Method and apparatus for cryptographically-assisted commercial network system designed to facilitate and support expert-based commerce

ABSTRACT

The present invention is an expert matching method and apparatus for managing communications between an expert having particular qualifications and an end user seeking a solution to an expert request. In a preferred embodiment, the apparatus of the present invention includes a controller having a database for storing expert qualifications. In one embodiment, the controller receives an expert request. A search program identifies experts qualified to respond to the expert request. The expert request is then transmitted to the expert, which results in an expert answer transmitted to and received by the central controller. After authentication of the expert answer, using a wide range of security levels from passwords to cryptography, the answer is forwarded to the end user. The method and apparatus of the present invention have applications on the Internet as well as conventional voice telephony systems.

RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a continuation application of U.S. patentapplication Ser. No. 11/423,753 filed Jun. 13, 2006, which is acontinuation application of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/112,131filed Jul. 8, 1998 (now U.S. Pat. No. 7,523,045), which is acontinuation application of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 08/685,706filed Jul. 24, 1996 (now U.S. Pat. No. 5,862,223). Each of theabove-referenced applications is incorporated by reference herein in itsentirety.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The method and apparatus of the present invention relate to electroniccommerce applications using digital and analog networks.

BACKGROUND

Computerized marketplaces of all kinds are well known in the art. Theyrange from simple classified ad bulletin boards to complexmainframe-based market systems such as NASDAQ which offers a real-timemarket-making system for tens of thousands of securities brokers. Allmodern stock, bond and commodity exchanges are supported by underlyingcomputerized databases and related systems which enable them tofunction.

Typically, electronic Exchanges are designed to facilitate commercialtransactions of tokens of ownership, such as shares of stock, orphysical objects such as ounces of gold or a used car. Other Exchangesspecialize in the sale of information stored on databases such as thatprovided by LexisNexis, where users pay fees for accessing articleswhile content providers are paid per article downloaded. Still otherExchanges provide matching services where each party is seeking anefficient way to find the other, such as might be provided by a datingservice or a job bank.

Exchanges whose function is to support a marketplace for the buying andselling of consulting services have been few and far between. Since istype of Exchange supports a form of commercial activity which is meantto take place in the future, the Exchange's role is to serve as astructured meeting ground for the negotiation of the service to beprovided. However, an Exchange which performs this type of negotiationservice creates what has heretofore been considered an unavoidable“man-in-the-middle” problem. In the process of assisting in thenegotiation of a consulting contract, one or both parties must firstdisclose their identity to the other. Thereafter, if commerce appearslikely to occur, one party can simply contact the other directly andprivately, without the exchange's knowledge, thereby avoiding any costswhich might otherwise have been assessed by the Exchange.

In the past, attempts have been made to establish so-called “informationmarketplaces” to overcome this problem by providing a wide range ofsupplementary services to add value to the role played by the Exchange.The most notable example of the many failed attempts to solve theproblem was the American Information Exchange, AMIX, a service which waspiloted in 1991 and soon thereafter disbanded by Autodesk Inc., asoftware development company located in Sausalito, Calif.

AMIX's goal was to establish an on-line marketplace for the buying andselling of both information and consulting services where every usercould be either a buyer or a seller, with AMIX facilitating transactionsbetween them. The AMIX system required both buyers and sellers to becomea member of the service, agree to pay a monthly service fee and thenpurchase and install a dedicated front-end program. A self-described“electronic farmer's market,” parties could negotiate agreements for thesale of information or consulting services which AMIX organized bytopic. AMIX offered to serve as a non-binding mediator should theparties have a dispute and select a binding arbitrator if necessary. Thesystem also intended to serve as a central record keeper and findstransfer point, either for the clearing of credit card charges ordisbursements from pre-established accounts which AMIX managed. AMIXoffered neither anonymity nor the controlled release of identity. Buyersor sellers who identified each other using the service could then bypassthe service, though AMIX charged monthly fees so that the financialimpact of such off-exchange activities might be offset. Furthermore, itencouraged both buyers and sellers to post comments about each other sothat future buyers and sellers would be able to evaluate the pastreputations of one another.

To understand the failure of AMIX, and all other prior attempts tocreate working expert-exchange marketplaces, it is necessary tounderstand that effective markets, whether they be physical orelectronic, require a complete and highly specialized set of conditionsin order to function and thrive. A single missing ingredient or featureof service might result in a shortage of either buyers or sellers andlead to the collapse of the Exchange—which needs sufficient quantitiesof both to continue operation. At the same time, the Exchange must beable to ensure that it can derive sufficient income from the commerce ofits activities in order to support the Exchange's cost of operations andmake a profit.

All successful Exchanges must be able to motivate significant numbers ofboth buyers and sellers to use the Exchange versus other availablemarket alternatives. Thus, buyers and sellers must 1) have a highexpectation of the usefulness of the Exchange which makes them willingto take the time and effort to learn the rules of the Exchange, and, ifnecessary, become recognized by the Exchange, 2) locate each other onthe Exchange at exactly the right time and place, 3) be able to quicklyand easily negotiate transaction terms, 4) reach a complete and finalagreement where the expectations of the parties are well defined, 5)arrange for acceptable credit terms, 6) deliver the goods or servicescalled for by the agreement, 7) deliver payment when the agreement isfulfilled, 8) rely on the Exchange to enforce the agreement made on theExchange with certainty of both payment and legal recourse, 9) find thetransaction fees reasonable in comparison to alternatives, and 10) haveready access to the market without levels of knowledge and cost ofhardware commensurate with the value of the goods or services sold onthe Exchange.

Traditional real world commerce in expertise or consulting servicesstrongly favors circumstances where both parties are, at leastoccasionally, in the same place at the same time and can see oneanother. When there is no face-to-face contact between the parties(relying instead on mail, phone, faxes, etc.) significant burdens andcosts are imposed on the parties which reduce the likelihood of expertcommerce taking place. This is especially true if the parties arelocated in different countries where differences in language, customs,legal systems, currencies, etc., must be dealt with. Each added burdendramatically reduces the chances for agreement and increases thedifficulty of satisfying all of the previously stated infrastructureconditions. Finally, if one or both of the parties in an on-linetransaction is a private party (such as a part-time freelanceconsultant) with no established organization or commercial resources,the problems can become effectively insurmountable.

A hypothetical “worst-case” example illustrates both the range andquantity of problems associated with international consulting where theconsultant is a private party. Imagine a professor of nanotechnology atthe University of Makinsk, located in Kazakhstan, formerly part of theSoviet Union. Although the professor's teaching schedule keeps himfairly busy, there is not much to do in Makinsk. To relieve the boredomand to supplement his limited salary, he decides the time has come toembrace capitalism by using some of his free time to offer freelancenanotechnology consulting. The professor begins by making a list of whatneeds to be done before being able to sell his nanotechnology expertise.

To begin, how does he locate potential clients? Finding clients is adifficult task for any service professional. It is hard to know whoneeds their services, especially in a niche field such asnanotechnology. There are less than five hundred people who might wantto hire a nanotechnologist and they are all located within a few dozencompanies, research labs and government departments scattered around theworld. The professor could rent the mailing list of The NanotechnologyJournal and send out promotional mailings, but this would be expensiveand time consuming with no guarantee of success. Even more importantly,such a mailing is unlikely to reach a potential client at the exactmoment which the client needs nanotechnology consulting services. Thoughthe professor has some contacts, most of his potential customers areunknown to him, as he is to them. Personal solicitations might be moreappropriate, but many of the barriers to commerce remain, includingpotentially insuperable language barriers. And, once he somehowidentifies potential clients, how does he contact them? By mail, byphone, by e-mail? If so, how will potential clients respond to thosecontacts and where should they send any written materials? He cannotreceive them at work and home mail delivery is notoriously unreliable inMakinsk.

Finding a potential client is just the beginning of the process, as theprofessor and client must now synchronize their schedules. The professorrecognizes that he must arrange for freelance work which fits around hisother teaching and research commitments. Without an assistant orsecretary to arrange the work times, the professor is forced to managethe naturally iterative process of scheduling the work. What theprofessor really needs is a client whose needs precisely fit hisrequirements so that he can concentrate on providing the consulting, notscheduling it. His free time occurs normally on weekends and late atnight, though his night availability varies widely depending ondepartment functions and projects. Can he find work he could do onSaturday nights from 9:00-11:30 PM local time? If there are largeongoing client projects that need to be done, can he deliver hisconsulting in small chunks? Suppose he had thirty minutes to sparebetween classes every Wednesday. Could he locate a client project thatrequired just twenty or thirty minutes to finish each week, like gradingnanotechnology exams taken at some faraway university? Suppose theprofessor finds himself with unexpected extra time. Are there clientssomewhere in the world whose time requirements can offer him projects onshort notice? For example, if he didn't expect to have free time thisevening, and things suddenly changed, could he possible find a client inthe next few hours? How about in the next few minutes? Suppose he werewilling to work at half his regular rate to compensate for the shortnotice?

Once the professor finds a client whose needs match the professor'stiming constraints, how does he quickly and effectively establish hiscredentials? Though the professor is highly talented, he is still arelative unknown. The likelihood is that the client has only vaguelyheard of the professor and his work. Does he mail potential clientscopies of his diplomas and his PhD thesis? How will the client becertain that the information is authentic or will the client have tospend time and money to carefully check out the professor's credentialsbefore going any fiber? Perhaps he should provide references. If so, isthere any way that a potential client can quickly check those referenceswithout delaying the whole process and thus missing the window ofopportunity for work that is needed right away? How can the professordemonstrate that he is capable of answering a potential client'squestions without personally meeting with the client's engineers andscientists? He could mail out academic papers, but they might take weeksto arrive via international mail. There is of course also no guaranteethat the client can read Russian, though the professor speaks fluentEnglish. If he is competing with other nanotechnologists for a givenassignment, how does he prove that he is not only the superior choicefor the client but that he is willing to negotiate a price for hisservices that is at least 75% less expensive than his comparablecompetition in the West?

Once a deal is struck, how will the consulting work be delivered to theclient? Mail is too slow and Federal Express doesn't serve Makinsk. Thework could be sent by e-mail, but nanotechnology consulting is usuallyconfidential in nature. Furthermore, assuming the work is delivered bysome kind of encrypted e-mail, how can the professor get a bona fidereceipt indicating that the work was actually received by the client?

Credit, payment and currency problems make the professor's consultingbusiness even more difficult to get off the ground. If the professor isfortunate enough to locate a client, establish his credentials, agree ona specific job to be done and the price to be paid, how can he be surethat he is actually going to get paid if he delivers satisfactory work.There are many unscrupulous nanotechnology companies that have beenknown to prey on ex-communist scientists in the former USSR. Thesecompanies either don't pay their bills or claim that the work providedwas inferior and not at all what was promised. He can't get paid somepart in advance, can he? Even if he extends credit to a specific client,how does the professor arrange for payment when the work is complete? Hedoesn't take credit cards and he certainly doesn't want to trust theKazakhstan mail system to handle envelopes stuffed with cash. He has asmall savings account at the First National Bank of Makinsk, butdepositing checks from foreign accounts is viewed with suspicion and allsuch checks are subject to long delays and surcharges. What's more, theprofessor wants any payment he receives to be denominated in dollars orGerman marks. If he performs work for a French company, how will thatcompany arrange to make the payment to the professor in dollars ormarks? And, what happens if the client refuses to pay? Is there anyrecourse available other than writing the client off and never workingfor that client again?

Finally, suppose it the professor figures out how to do everythingnecessary to become a successful consultant. There's just one more thinghe wants to achieve. He wants to be able to begin work for a clientwithout revealing his identity to the client. (He may be willing toreveal his identity only after his working relationship is wellestablished and the parties have grown comfortable with each other.) Heis very concerned that if his department chairman finds out that he'sdoing corporate consulting, he might require that the professor give allor part of any foreign currency earnings to the university—no matterthat the work was done during off hours. Even worse, the chairman couldview the foreign consulting as a threat to his power and either fire theprofessor for unauthorized activities or forbid him from doing anyfreelance work, insisting that any such work must be done only by thechairman.

Supporting either all or partial anonymity in expert-based commerce,where at least one party is a private individual, currently presentsalmost insurmountable challenges. Communication by either standard mailor e-mail is difficult since known addresses are required. The professorcould leave his name off the return address or use a false name, but theprofessor's identity might be easily deduced. Incoming mail from aforeign corporation might result in questions from university officials.Anonymous remailers on the Internet could be used if the work is doneentirely in digital form, but what foreign company will hire an expertconsultant whose name and address they don't even know? Even ifanonymity were preserved, collecting payment while remaining anonymousis probably impossible without using cash which is impractical and oftendangerous. And, if the professor wants to provide a client with hisdiplomas, published academic papers or previous client work ascredentials, there is simply no way to maintain his anonymity unless hecan find a third party trusted by the client who will vouch for theprofessor's skill while at the same time concealing his identity.

Yet, with all these hurdles, there is a strong case to be made that astens of millions of businessmen, government officials, academics andordinary consumers interact with each other more and more via on-linenetworks, and since physical distance barriers are meaningless incyberspace, the demand for worldwide commerce in expert services willgrow exponentially in the years ahead. What is needed to unlock thisgrowth is a universally accessible facilitating system which is designedto specifically handle the buying and selling of expert services, asopposed to selling information or simply providing an electronicfarmer's market. Much as computerized stock markets were invented thatcould seamlessly and effortlessly handle transactions of billions ofshares of equities, bonds and financial instruments every day, thereexists a need for expert-based markets where human experts can reliablysell their services to clients they have never met, utilizing astructured, organized system that facilitates and supports theinfrastructure needed for expert commerce. What's more, such an expertmarket system should allow for entirely new features and qualities ofservice that were heretofore not possible before the rise of computers,databases and the ubiquitous Internet with its related on-line networks.

Furthermore, though the example of the professor of nanotechnologydescribes a seller-driven protocol whereby the expert consultant seeksto find and sell appropriate clients, it is equally logical to use theinventive system for buyer-driven applications whereby clients who needto locate and retain appropriate expert consultants can do so on anefficient, ad hoc basis.

The applicant is unaware of the existence of any such commerciallyviable expert exchange which contains the features described above.Therefore, it is an object of the present invention to provide anefficient method of locating and matching remote qualified experts(“experts”) to customers (“clients”) who need their expertise by themethod and apparatus of the present invention and where The inventionaddresses the market mechanisms needed that prior inventions have failedto offer. Another object of the present invention is to locate qualifiedexperts even if they are not currently registered with the Exchange.Another object of the present invention is to provide an asynchronousdevice and system for connecting the client with the expert,transmitting job requests from client to expert. A further object of thepresent invention is to authenticate the qualifications of the experts.A still further object of the present invention is to allow clients toreview prior work produced by an expert. Another object of the presentinvention is to provide a reliable method for the expert to be paid bythe client where such a method can accommodate a plurality of paymentsystems that may occur independently of the details of the actualpayment service being used in a manner that is transparent to both theclient and the expert. Another object of the present invention is toenable the expert to be assured of payment for services by the Exchangeif the client does not pay for such services. Yet another object of thepresent invention is to allow for the Exchange to verity a client'sability to pay prior to delivering the completed analysis, or to allowclients to set up escrow accounts for payment. A still further object ofthe present invention is to allow the client to choose from a list ofexperts in a field and select a particular expert to provide service,where such service is in the form of expert advice or judgment. Afurther object of the present invention allows for a user to search adatabase of experts where the identities of the experts are concealedfrom the user, but the user may search a database of those experts bycertain characteristics and may optionally communicate with thoseexperts without knowing their identity. A further object of the presentinvention is to provide a real-time connection between the client andthe expert during which negotiations can take place or during whichadvice or judgment can passed between the parties.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a way for clientsto have experts evaluate their work. Another object of the presentinvention allows students to be graded by multiple evaluators. Anotherobject of the present invention is to allow both the client and theexpert to remain anonymous while practicing the invention. Anotherobject of the present invention is to allow clients and experts toverify information that is accessible or communicated as part ofpracticing the invention. Another object of the present invention is toverify the client's or expert's identity and the client's ability to payfor services. Another object of the present invention is to allow forimpartial dispute resolution regarding any dispute which arises from thepractice of the invention. Another object of the present invention is toallow the expert to be paid for services immediately upon delivery ofwork contracted for while practicing the invention. Yet another objectof the present invention is the ability to verify that communicationsoccurring while practicing the invention have not been tampered with oraltered during communication. A still further object of the presentinvention is to provide a marketplace for any party practicing theinvention to either bid on services or to reach an agreement regarding atransaction for such services as the parties may desire. Another objectof the present invention is to provide a method for clients to verifythe quality of expert answers. Yet another object of the presentinvention is to provide access to the Exchange without the need forproprietary software.

BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

In a preferred embodiment, the present invention provides a method andapparatus for an expert seeking to sell his services to more efficientlyfind a client, allow the client to certify and authenticate the expert'squalifications, allow the client to hire the expert under specific termsand conditions for a specific assignment, and, if desired by eitherparty, have the service provider guarantee payment to the expert for theexpert services to be provided while also guaranteeing the buyer'ssatisfaction with the expert service. The present invention improves theexpert's ability to efficiently provide expert services and the buyer'sability to find experts capable and willing to furnish such services ata mutually agreed price and terms. A valuable application of thisservice is providing answers to questions that require human judgment oranalysis. The system provides a simple way for users to find qualifiedexperts to give them professional advice.

In one embodiment of this invention, a person (“end user”) who requiresinformation from an expert accesses an on-line Exchange located at aremote server. The Exchange verifies the user's identification andaccount status and allows the user to produce a job request suitable forconsideration by an expert. The job request includes a full descriptionof the job to be performed, a range of money the user is willing tospend, how quickly he needs the answer, and any other informationnecessary to respond to the request. For example, a typical job requestmight be: “Attached is the text of a letter which may have been writtenby Catherine the Great. No later than 2:00 PM, Saturday. Jul. 20, 1996 Iwould like an expert in Russian history to review the letter and provideme with a detailed opinion of at least 1,000 words on whether Catherinethe Great was indeed the author, and if not, who is most likely to havebeen the author.” The user can also select “Russian history” from a“subject menu”, “fifty to one hundred dollars” from the “price menu,”“2:00 PM, Saturday, Jul. 20, 1996” from the “time to complete menu” and“5:00 PM, Friday, Jul. 12, 1996” from the “deadline for submitting bids”menu. The user attaches the text of the letter and e-mails the jobrequest to the Exchange which begins the process of locating a qualifiedexpert.

Once the job request has been sent, the end user waits to receive anybids by the bid deadline specified. As soon as the central controller atthe Exchange receives the complete job request, it first searches itsproprietary database of Russian history experts. Then, if additionalexperts are likely to be needed, it activates a search program designedto access and interrogate outside databases of known experts who mightbe qualified to handle the job request. This outside database searchcould be done using conventional paper-based directories (such as theAmerican Medical Association's American Medical Directory which liststhe doctor's educational background and any board-certified specialty),or with electronic directories available online (such as theMartindale-Hubbell Law Directory which contains entries for lawyers andlaw firms in the United States as well as over 140 foreign countries).In the example above, college course catalogs can be searched for anauthority on late 18th century Russia, with special knowledge ofCatherine the Great. Once one or more suitable experts are identified,the Exchange sends a message to the expert (e-mail, fax, beeper, phone,etc.) briefly describing the job request and asking the expert if hemight be willing to consider bidding on the assignment by 5:00 PM,Friday, Jul. 12, 1996. The name of the client is not revealed. If theexpert answers that he might be interested, and the user has placed nopre-qualification restrictions on who can see the job request, the fulltext of the job request without the user's name or address is forwardedto the expert with a request that he respond with a bid by the biddeadline. Alternatively, the user is notified of each expert's interestand is offered the opportunity to review the expert's qualificationsprior to the Exchange sending out the full job request.

If, after reviewing the full job request, an expert is willing to do thejob, he submits a formal offer of service, essentially his bid for thejob. This bid may also include his particular qualifications for the joband any special conditions which he might require be incorporated beforeaccepting the assignment. These bids are then forwarded to the user whocan then decide which experts, if any, he will hire. The end user mayalso simply have the Exchange select the first bid that fulfills thequalifications for the job. Alternatively, no bid may be acceptable andhe may want to continue to negotiate with certain experts. In an effortto minimize off-exchange contact prior to a deal being reached, the userwill typically know the experts' names but not their locations or phonenumbers. (If a user ultimately does not select a candidate using theExchange, and does not subsequently use the Exchange for a similar jobwithin a certain number of days, he may be charged a usage fee as apercentage of the total job value or on a fixed fee basis.) The usersends a binding acceptance notification to the Exchange for each expertto be hired. The Exchange in turn notifies the expert(s) that they havebeen hired and the terms under which the offer of service was accepted.

In another embodiment, candidate experts submit detailed applications tothe Exchange in advance of receiving any job requests, providingdetailed qualifications in one or more areas of expertise along withthird party references. Each application is reviewed by a certificationcommittee familiar with the subject area(s) being applied for, and thecandidate is either accepted or rejected as a qualified expert. Once theExchange contains enough experts in a given subject, each newapplication may be reviewed by other experts who are already members ofthe Exchange. This provides a basis for peer review that can be used tomaintain assurance of qualifications.

Once an expert is accepted, he is added to the expert databasemaintained by the Exchange. When an expert is available to answer aquestion, he logs-in to the Exchange and provides his expert ID. TheExchange then routes any pertinent open job requests to the expert forconsideration. When the expert indicates interest in an open jobrequest, he notifies the Exchange and is provided the full request. Theexpert then formulates his bid, if any, digitally signs it, and e-mailsit to the Exchange. Alternatively, the expert may remain off-line, withthe Exchange notifying him via mail, fax, beeper, or telephone thatthere is an open job request for his consideration.

When a job is complete, the expert notifies the Exchange and requestspayment. The Exchange verifies that the client is satisfied and executesthe prearranged billing methodology between the parties. The Exchangemay be holding full or partial payment in escrow which is then released.In the event that the user does not pay for the service provided, theExchange absorbs the cost of this bad debt.

There are several variations of the present invention that allow fordifferent levels of service, security and communication confidentialityand privacy. One such example is the ability for the user to select froma particular list of experts prior to submitting his request. In thisway, the user can select and review the qualifications of the expertsand choose the expert or experts that he feels most comfortable with.Using the example above, the user can look through all the historians,searching for one with the most relevant expertise on Catherine theGreat. The user can look for historians in a particular subject, orhistorians with a given amount of experience. He can also review acomplete profile of the historian, including journal articles or samplesof previous client work. The user might also communicate to the Exchangeusing encrypted transmission and require that all communication aboutthe job to potential experts also be encrypted to prevent unwantedparties from reviewing the job request materials. (If it were known thata manuscript possibly penned by Catherine the Great had been recentlydiscovered, the market for other Russian manuscripts might be affected.)

Another embodiment of the present invention allows the expert and theuser to communicate directly once they are put in contact with eachother through the Exchange. This allows the user to receive real-timefeedback on requests. For example, once the user has asked about anarticle and the expert has responded, the user may have more questionsabout the expert's comments. In a synchronous communication system, theuser is able to ask as many follow-up questions as necessary. One way toachieve this is through a standard telephone connection. The Exchangecan set up a time to contact the user and expert and call them both toconnect them. It is ideally suited to bill the user for the amount ofphone time connected, thus making it possible to support an ad hocpay-per-minute service between two parties, one or both of whom may notknow the identity of the other party. Such synchronous communicationsmay also take the form of digital text transmitted between expert anduser.

The present invention is also valuable because it facilitates auniversally applicable payment protocol for the expert providing advice.In one embodiment, the present invention provides experts immediatepayment for services rendered with almost no overhead. The expert doesnot have to be a bank-approved merchant to process credit card orders,deal with personal checks, cash, or non-payment issues. This allows theexpert to maximize his earning potential by focusing on providingquality service.

In another embodiment of the present invention the Exchange manages thebilling and payment system automatically. The end user's ability to payfor services is verified prior to the request reaching the expert. Inorder to receive service, the user must have a credit card, debit card,checking or savings account, or other certified electronic fundsavailable. When a request for services is submitted, the Exchangeverifies the end user's balance and refuses to submit the request if theuser cannot pay. Once the expert responds to the request, the user'saccount is immediately debited for the expert's fee.

In yet another embodiment of the present invention, a gradingapplication is provided. A student looking to improve the quality of hiswork can send an expert evaluation request to the Exchange. This requestincludes a copy of the work to be evaluated, such as a book report,biology paper, or set of math questions. The Exchange finds experts toevaluate the work and respond with feedback. For example, if a studentis writing a report on Hamlet, the Exchange could find an expert onShakespeare to evaluate the report. As always, the expert would be paidaccordingly for his services.

It is also possible for teachers and professors to take advantage of theservice. The homework and reports submitted to a teacher for grading,for example, can be distributed to experts via the Exchange, a kind ofdigital piecework. A math teacher might have one hundred math tests tograde. The tests are divided up into groups of twenty and distributedamong five certified math experts to be evaluated and returned inforty-eight hours. The students' work is sent to the Exchangeelectronically or via fax for distribution. The teacher can specify thegrading methods to be used and the correct answers to the questions.Once the tests are evaluated and returned to the Exchange by theexperts, the Exchange reassembles them into one transmission and sendsthem back to the teacher. The experts are then paid for their services.

The ability to provide anonymity to the end user and expert is anotheradvantage of the present invention. The Exchange can provide full orpartial anonymity (e.g., providing no information about the expert, orrepresenting only that he is a member of a specific professionalorganization) because it acts as a trusted third party messenger betweenthe two parties. It can conceal the identity of both people using verysimple or very complex techniques depending on the level of securityrequired.

There are many situations where the end user might not want his identityto be compromised. For example, a company president might want to findout information on how the public sees his company. The president wouldcertainly like honest answers and would like to remain anonymous whenmaking the request. Likewise, an expert who uses the products might notwant the company to know his identity because he does a lot of businesswith the company. In a criminal investigation, the expert witness maynot want to reveal his identity for fear of being threatened by theaccused. Also, people who have committed a crime might seek legal ormoral advice from outside experts.

In other cases, the service itself may want to intentionally withholdthe identity of one or both parties to a potential transaction in orderto assure that it will be paid for its having brought the partiestogether. Once one or both parties are able to contact each otheroutside the service's view, the service has no way to know whether thetransaction was consummated privately.

Authentication of the user and the expert is also a benefit of thepresent invention. Using cryptography and biometrics, the Exchange canauthenticate the identity of the parties. The algorithms used can alsoverify that the expert response and ID have not been tampered with afterthe response has been sent to the Exchange. Digital signatures, forexample, provide both message integrity and authentication ofauthorship.

The present invention also allows for a viable “expert service market”by enabling both users and experts to bid on services. An electronicauction can be implemented which allows users to bid for an expert'stime, experts to bid on user requests, and users and experts tonegotiate on the price of services. Such services could be sold on aprepaid basis where the expert agreed to provide a certain number ofhours of real-time consulting where such consulting was performedthrough a connection monitored by the Exchange for purposes ofaccounting and tracking.

In another embodiment of the present invention a quality monitoringfeature is provided. If the user is dissatisfied with a response, theExchange forwards the request and the response to another qualifiedexpert for review. This peer review either accepts or rejects theresponse, and appropriate action is taken. For example, if the responseis accepted, the end user is notified that the response is correct andaccurate. If the response is rejected, the end user is refunded oroffered an alternate expert, and the expert is notified that hisresponse was inadequate.

The present invention enjoys the advantage of not requiring proprietarysoftware. Any communications tool that conforms to the standardspublished by the Exchange is capable of using the service. Simplyreaching the service's website on the Internet, for example, allows forany person capable of receiving e-mail to use the service. Standardizedencryption techniques, including public key protocols can be used toensure privacy and message integrity. Furthermore, since the service isdesigned to reach out and find experts, a party can use the service andbe paid in digital cash or wire transfer without ever having firstregistered with the service in any way.

It is the goal of the present invention to provide a robust system whichmatches users' requests with expert answers. The invention providesvarious methods of communication, commerce and security for the expertand the end user. The power of a central controller at an Exchange tomaintain billing, collection, authentication and anonymity makes thepresent invention an improvement over conventional systems which do nothave such an arrangement of elements. By combining various arrangementsof these elements into one system, the present invention makes thefinding, selling and transferring of expert advice fast, simple,efficient and market competitive.

Applications of the Invention

In order to clarify the application of the present invention, thefollowing examples demonstrate potential needs of end users.

-   -   1. I want a draft of an academic paper on quantum mechanics        reviewed anonymously by three qualified academics not located in        the U.S. The answers, which are due by July 15, should be at        least 500 words and must explain the three points with which the        reviewers most agree and disagree.    -   2. I am a businessman in the steel salvage business with a        question as to how to handle a personnel problem. I would like        my question answered by a personnel professional at a Fortune        1000 company who is not in the steel business and who has dealt        with the same or similar problem at least five times in their        own company and can thus give me a range of possible results        based on his own experience. I am willing to pay $100 for        answers of at least 250 words. Anonymity is acceptable, but I        will pay an extra $100 if the professional is identified to me,        and I am allowed to call the professional in his off hours.    -   3. I am an attorney who is seeking other businesses who have had        a problem with the XYZ company's plastic products. I will pay        $50 for each documented example of problems you have experienced        first hand, up to a maximum of 100 cases.    -   4. I am looking to decode a hieroglyphic unearthed on a site in        Israel. I will pay $50 for each solution of at least 10 words,        and $500 for the complete solution. Answers will be accepted        from four candidates who send me their credentials.    -   5. I have 1,000 English literature final exams that I need        graded. Each exam is composed of ten short essay questions.        Tests and answers can be e-mailed to you in groups of twenty        exams, and must be graded and returned via e-mail no later than        Jun. 10, 1997. I will pay $2.00 per graded exam. Graders must be        practicing English teachers at the college level and follow the        grading guidelines which will be sent to you.    -   6. To all people who have eaten at my restaurant, I will pay you        $5.00 for a 100 word description of how to improve my service or        my menu. (Limit 50 people.)

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 illustrates a first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing one embodiment of the centralcontroller.

FIG. 3 illustrates an embodiment in which the computing resources of thecentral controller are distributed over a number of servers.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram showing an exemplary expert interface.

FIG. 5 is a block diagram showing an exemplary user interface.

FIG. 6 illustrates an embodiment showing how an end user request isgenerated.

FIG. 7 illustrates an embodiment showing the initial processing of anend user request.

FIG. 8 illustrates one embodiment of transmitting the end user requestto the appropriate experts.

FIG. 9 illustrates an embodiment showing the development of an expertanswer.

FIG. 10 illustrates an exemplary embodiment for compensating experts andbilling end users.

FIG. 11 illustrates an exemplary compensation method employing creditcard payment.

FIG. 12 illustrates an exemplary compensation method employing bankchecks.

FIG. 13 illustrates an exemplary compensation method employingelectronic fund transfers.

FIG. 14 illustrates an exemplary compensation method employing thetransfer of digital cash.

FIG. 15 illustrates an exemplary embodiment for allowing end users toselect experts.

FIG. 16 illustrates an exemplary embodiment of how experts receive andrespond to end user requests after being selected by users.

FIGS. 17, 18, 19, and 20 illustrate an exemplary embodiment forsynchronous communications between an expert and an end user.

FIG. 17 illustrates an embodiment where the end user connects to anonline service and is assigned a message window.

FIG. 18 illustrates an embodiment of the end user interacting with amessage window.

FIG. 19 illustrates an embodiment showing how the expert connects to anonline service and enters a message window.

FIG. 20 illustrates an embodiment of the expert interacting with amessage window.

FIGS. 21, 22, 23, and 24 illustrate an exemplary embodiment for gradingexams of the present invention.

FIG. 25 illustrates an exemplary authentication process using symmetrickeys.

FIG. 26 illustrates an exemplary authentication process using asymmetrickeys.

FIG. 27 illustrates an exemplary authentication process using digitalsignatures.

FIG. 28 illustrates an exemplary authentication process using hashfunctions.

FIG. 29 illustrates an exemplary embodiment using anonymous mix.

FIGS. 30, 31, 32, and 33 illustrate an exemplary embodiment of how endusers and experts may negotiate during their transactions.

FIGS. 34 and 35 illustrate an exemplary embodiment of the qualityassurance feature of the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

The method and apparatus of the present invention will now be discussedwith reference to FIGS. 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5. In a preferred embodiment,the present invention includes end user interface 500, centralcontroller 200, associated databases, and expert interface 400. Thepresent invention identifies the appropriate expert, supervises thedistribution of requests to the appropriate experts, and supplies timelyanswers to the end user. Thus, a person looking for expert knowledge canreceive it in a simple, cost and time effective manner.

System Architecture

The system architecture of a first embodiment of the apparatus andmethod of the present invention is illustrated with reference to FIGS. 1through 5. As shown in FIG. 1, the apparatus of the present inventioncomprises expert interface 400, central controller 200, and end userinterface 500 (collectively the “nodes”). Each node is connected via anInternet connection using a public switched phone network 110, such asthose provided by a local or regional telephone operating company.Connection may also be provided by dedicated data lines, cellular,Personal Communication Systems (“PCS”), microwave, or satellitenetworks. Expert interface 400 and user interface 500 are the input andoutput gateways for communications with central controller 200.

Using the above components, the present invention provides a method andapparatus to receive questions or inquiries requiring judgmentalanalysis, identify qualified experts, transmit such inquiries to them,and forward corresponding answers to the end user. Through the methodand apparatus of the present invention, end users can efficiently selectthe qualifications of the experts, and receive verification of theexperts' qualifications.

As shown in FIG. 2, central controller 200 includes central processor(CPU) 205, cryptographic processor 210, RAM 215, ROM 220, paymentprocessor 230, billing processor 225, clock 235, operating system 240,network interface 245, and data storage device 250.

A conventional personal computer or computer workstation with sufficientmemory and processing capability may be used as central controller 200.In one embodiment it operates as a web server, both receiving andtransmitting data inquiries generated by end users. Central controller200 must be capable of high volume transaction processing, performing asignificant number of mathematical calculations in processingcommunications and database searches. A Pentium microprocessor such asthe 1100 MHz P54C, commonly manufactured by Intel Inc., may be used forCPU 205. This processor employs a 32-bit architecture. Equivalentprocessors include the Motorola 120 MHz PowerPC 604 or Sun Microsystem's166 MHz UltraSPARC-I.

An MC68HC16 microcontroller, commonly manufactured by Motorola Inc., maybe used for cryptographic processor 210. Equivalent processors may alsobe used. This microcontroller utilizes a 16-bit multiply-and-accumulateinstruction in the 16 MHz configuration and requires less than onesecond to perform a 512-bit RSA private key operation. Cryptographicprocessor 210 supports the authentication of communications from boththe experts and end users, as well as allowing for anonymoustransactions. Cryptographic processor 210 may also be configured as partof CPU 205. Other commercially available specialized cryptographicprocessors include VLSI Technology's 33 MHz 6868 or SemaphoreCommunications' 40 MHz Roadrunner284.

Referring again to FIG. 2, billing processor 225 and payment processor230 comprise conventional microprocessors (such as the Intel Pentium),supporting the transfer and exchange of payments, charges, or debits,attendant to the method of the apparatus. Either processor (225 or 230)may also be configured as part of CPU 205. Processing of credit cardtransactions by these processors may be supported with commerciallyavailable software, such as the Secure Webserver manufactured by OpenMarket, Inc. This server software transmits credit card numberselectronically over the Internet to servers located at the Open Marketheadquarters where card verification and processing is handled. TheirIntegrated Commerce Service provides back-office services necessary torun Web-based businesses. Services include online account statements,order-taking and credit card payment authorization, credit cardsettlement, automated sales tax calculations, digital receiptgeneration, account-based purchase tracking, and payment aggregation forlow-priced services.

Data storage device 250 may include hard disk magnetic or opticalstorage units, as well as CD-ROM drives or flash memory. Data storagedevice 250 contains databases used in the processing of transactions inthe present invention, including expert database 255, end user database260, end user request database 265, expert answer database 270, paymentdatabase 275, billing database 280, expert qualifications database 285,and cryptographic key database 290. In a preferred embodiment databasesoftware such as Oracle7, manufactured by Oracle Corporation, is used tocreate and manage these databases.

Expert database 255 maintains data on the experts, including name,address, private key information, email addresses, physical addresses,payment preferences, rates, availability standards, voice mailaddresses, expert profile 155, biographies, past expert answers 130, andrespective subject areas of expertise. Expert profile 155 includesautomatic bid amounts, minimum completion times, acceptable priceranges, and the like. Expert database 255 includes rating informationgenerated by end users, as well as expert address 145, which is used todirect communications to the expert. Expert address 145 comprises aphone number, web page URL, bulletin board address, pager number,telephone number, email address, voice mail address, facsimile number,or any other way to contact the expert. Expert database 255 also storesall bid requests 160 and bid offers 165 generated by the expert.Advertising data generated by the expert may also be stored in thisdatabase.

End user database 260 maintains data on end users, such as name,address, phone number, ID number, email address, payment preferences,past system usage, private key information, etc. It also contains enduser profile 150, which stores preferences for required response time,acceptable qualification levels, acceptable price levels, automatic bidamounts, and the like. It also contains copies of each bid request 160and bid offer 165 generated by the end user.

End user request database 265 includes all end user requests 120received by central controller 200, indexed by subject. A uniquetracking number is also stored for each end user request 120. End userrequest database 265 also stores the grading request 125, which is a setof questions and answers generated in the grading embodiment. Allrequests 115 are also stored in this database.

Expert answer database 270 archives all expert answers 130 received bycentral controller 200. This database is indexed by expert answer 130tracking number.

Payment database 275 and billing database 280 track all commercialtransactions, as well as payment and billing preferences. Thesedatabases are valuable in the event of complaints by both end users andexperts regarding payment, because an audit trail can be produced.

Expert qualifications database 285 maintains expert qualifications 140on the expert's professional, academic, and industry qualifications,such as licenses, degrees, publications, experience, certifications,professional education, skill sets, languages, location, response times,rates, resume, etc. These qualifications may be stored in multimediaform (e.g. text, video, audio) and transmitted to end users looking forfurther qualification data about an expert. In an alternativeembodiment, expert qualifications database 285 and expert database 255can be combined into a single database.

In order to facilitate cryptographic functions, there is cryptographickey database 290 which stores both symmetric and asymmetric keys. Thesekeys are used by cryptographic processor 210 for encrypting anddecrypting all end user requests 120 and expert answers 130, as well asmessage traffic such as bid amounts or offers and acceptances of work.Audit database 295 stores transactional information that may beretrieved for later analysis. Text data from chat rooms might be storedin this database, for example, so that end user complaints about servicecan be independently verified.

Network interface 245 is the gateway to communicate with end users andexperts through respective end user interface 500 and expert interface400. Conventional internal or external modems may serve as networkinterface 245. Network interface 245 supports modems at a range of baudrates from 1200 upward, but may combine such inputs into a T1 or T3 lineif more bandwidth is required. In a preferred embodiment, networkinterface 245 is connected with the Internet and/or any of thecommercial online services such as America Online, CompuServe, orProdigy, allowing end users access from a wide range of onlineconnections. Several commercial email servers include the abovefunctionality. NCD Software manufactures “Post.Office”, a secureserver-based electronic mail software package designed to link peopleand information over enterprise networks and the Internet. The productis platform independent and utilizes open standards based on Internetprotocols. Users can exchange messages with enclosures such as files,graphics, video and audio. The system also supports multiple languages.Alternatively, network interface 245 may be configured as a voice mailinterface web site, BBS, or email address.

While the above embodiment describes a single computer acting as thecentral controller, those skilled in the art will realize that thefunctionality can be distributed over a plurality of computers. Inanother embodiment, central controller 200 may be configured in adistributed architecture, as shown in FIG. 3, wherein the databases andprocessors are housed in separate units or locations. Controllers 320through 340 perform the primary processing functions and contain at aminimum RAM, ROM, and a general processor. Each of these controllers isattached to WAN hub 300 which serves as the primary communication linkwith the other devices. WAN hub 300 may have minimal processingcapability itself, serving primarily as a communications router.Although only three controllers are shown in this embodiment, thoseskilled in the art will appreciate that an almost unlimited number ofcontrollers may be supported. In such a configuration, each controlleris in communication with its constituent parts, but the processor and/ordata storage functions are performed by stand-alone units. Paymentprocessor and database 350, billing processor and database 360, andexpert/end user database 370 all communicate through WAN hub 300 withcontrollers 320 through 340. This arrangement yields a more dynamic andflexible system, less prone to catastrophic hardware failures affectingthe entire system.

FIGS. 4 and 5 describe expert interface 400 and end user interface 500,respectively. In an exemplary embodiment they are both conventionalpersonal computers having an input device, such as a keyboard, mouse, orconventional voice recognition software package; a display device, suchas a video monitor; a processing device such as a CPU; and a networkinterface such as a modem. Alternatively, expert interface 400 and enduser interface 500 may also be voice mail systems, or other electronicor voice communications systems. As will be described further in thefollowing embodiments, devices such as fax machines or pagers are alsosuitable interfaces.

Referring now to FIG. 4, there is described expert interface 400 whichincludes central processor (CPU) 405. RAM 410, ROM 415, clock 420, videodriver 425, video monitor 430, communication port 440, input device 445,modem 450, and data storage device 460. Cryptographic processor 435 andbiometric device 455 may be added for stronger authentication asdescribed later.

A Pentium microprocessor such as the 100 MHz P54C described above may beused for CPU 405. Clock 420 is a standard chip-based clock which canserve to timestamp expert answers 130 produced with expert interface400. Modem 450 may not require high speed data transfer if most expertanswers 130 produced are text-based and not too long.

If a cryptographic processor is required, the MC68HC16 microcontrollerdescribed above is used. The structure of biometric device 455 will bedescribed below in conjunction with the cryptographic authenticationembodiment.

Data storage device 460 is a conventional magnetic based hard diskstorage unit, such as those manufactured by Conner Peripherals.Information storage database 470 may be used for archiving expertanswers 130, while audit database 480 may be used for recordingcommunications with central controller 200 as well as payment records.

Referring now to FIG. 5, there is described end user interface 500 whichincludes central processor (CPU) 505, RAM 510, ROM 515, clock 520, videodriver 525, video monitor 530, cryptographic processor 535,communication port 540, input device 545, modem 550, and data storagedevice 560. All of these components may be identical to those describedin FIG. 4.

There are many commercial software applications that can enable thecommunications required by expert interface 400 or end user interface500, the primary functionality being message creation and transmission.Eudora Pro manufactured by Qualcomm Incorporated, for example, providesediting tools for the creation of messages as well as the communicationstools to route the message to the appropriate electronic address.

Asynchronous Communications Embodiment

In one embodiment of the present invention, communications between endusers and experts take place asynchronously. The end user creates an enduser request 120, transmits it to central controller 200, and thendisconnects from the network. The expert generates an expert answer 130,transmits it to central controller 200, which then transmits it to theend user. The end user and expert do not communicate in real time.

With reference to FIG. 6, there is described the process by which theend user formulates end user request 120. The end user first creates arequest 115 at step 600, such as a question which requires humanjudgment, evaluation, analysis, etc. A small business owner, forexample, might want to learn new strategies for lowering his tax bill.Multiple questions may also be bundled into one request 115. At step610, the end user converts request 115 into electronic format, ifnecessary. Once converted, the end user attaches his name or a uniqueuser ID number to request 115 at step 620. This ID number is receivedfrom central controller 200 when the end user registers for the service,or is chosen by the end user and then registered with central controller200 by phone. Central controller 200 maintains a database of end user IDnumbers in end user database 260, and issues (or allows) only uniquenumbers. If less security is required, the user's telephone number couldserve as the ID number since it has the advantages of being both uniqueand easily remembered.

At step 630, the end user attaches criteria 117 to request 115. At step640, both the user ID and criteria 117 are combined with request 115,producing a complete end user request 120. As shown at step 635 in FIG.6, criteria 117 include at least one of the following: price, time framerequired for answer, qualifications of the expert, subject, geographiclocation, etc. This information is used by central controller 200 toroute end user request 120 to experts meeting criteria 117. Criteria 117are searchable; thus central controller 200 searches expert database 255for appropriate experts to answer end user request 120 based on criteria117. Criteria 117 will typically describe the required subject area ofthe expert, as well as the level of expertise necessary to answer enduser request 120. Sample subject areas include medicine, law,mathematics, car repair, multimedia editing, etc. Within a given subjectthere may be many levels, such as ten levels of car repair expertise.There may be a specific format for criteria 117, requiring the end userto use a given set of words and symbols such as “PRICE<=200 andSUBJECT=Biology and QUALIFICATIONS=level 4 and RESPONSE TIME<=2.0hours.” The end user may also designate price, response time, andpayment terms as criteria 117 of end user request 120.

Criteria 117 are met by expert qualifications 140. As part of theregistration process for candidate experts, their expert qualifications140 are established by central controller 200. To be a level four patentattorney, for example, the expert might have to submit a copy of his barresults, and prove that he has had at least five years of workexperience in patent law. He might also be required to submit referencesfor three recent clients. In one embodiment, a certification means isprovided whereby central controller 200 takes a more proactive role bysearching databases for expert qualifications. Using a set ofpredetermined instructions, central controller 200 first establishes thesubject of criteria 117. This subject is then correlated with anappropriate database of experts. A subject of “law,” for example, iscorrelated with legal directories while a subject of “medical” iscorrelated with medical directories. This database is then queried withthe candidate's information, allowing the system to certify thequalifications of a candidate expert. With a subject of “law,” forexample, an appropriate database is the Martindale-Hubbell Law Directorywhich contains over 900,000 entries for lawyers and law firms in theUnited States as well as over 140 foreign countries. A search isperformed using the name of the candidate expert in order to see ifthere is a listing. This search could be performed automatically forevery candidate requesting certification of legal qualifications. If thecandidate expert represents a field for which there is no onlinedatabase available, more general databases could be used. A writer, forexample, might claim to have written articles for several majornewspapers about trends in the pharmaceutical industry. Thesequalifications are easily certified by searching LexisNexis for thoseparticular newspapers for samples of his work. Individual companiescould provide access to their own in-house personnel databases. A bigsix accounting firm, for example, could allow limited access to thenames of current and past employees, allowing central controller 200 toautomate the verification of employment history for many accountants.

Alternatively, a candidate expert might submit expert qualifications 140for review by a committee of higher-level experts. In order to beapproved as a level four patent attorney, for example, an expert mighthave to receive the approval of a committee of level five patentattorneys. This committee would be selected by central controller 200.In this way, the burden of qualification falls primarily on the expertsthemselves, not on central controller 200. A hierarchy of experts iscreated, similar to the digital certificate authorities used forverifying public keys in cryptographic protocols. If each expert has aunique cryptographic key, the identity of each higher-level expertapproving him may be incorporated into this key. Every expert answer 130that the expert creates, therefore, would contain information about theexperts who approved him. Communications with the reviewing experts areperformed by the same method and apparatus as described in thisasynchronous communications embodiment.

In another embodiment, expertise is provided not by a human expert, butby a conventional expert system, neural network, or software usingartificial intelligence. An expert system specializing in the diagnosisof blood disorders, for example, could perform key word searches on enduser requests 120. These key words would become the input parametersupon which the expert system would base its decision.

Referring again to FIG. 6, end user request 120 is then transmitted tocentral controller 200 at step 650. This transfer occurs via electronicmail, although the system also supports voice mail, facsimile, or postalmail transmissions of end user requests 120. With voice mail, the enduser calls central controller 200 and leaves end user request 120 inaudio form. These end user requests 120 may be transcribed into digitaltext at central controller 200, or made available to experts in the sameaudio format. In a postal mail embodiment, central controller 200 actsmore like a router, directing end user requests 120 to the properexperts, creating multiple copies of end user request 120 if necessary.End user requests 120 may also be posted to bulletin boards or web pagesoperated by central controller 200. In a web-based embodiment, end usersmay fill out an electronic form built into the web page of centralcontroller 200.

It is important to note that the generation and transmission of end userrequest 120 does not require the use of proprietary software.Conventional electronic mail software such as Eudora Pro, for example,is capable of providing editing tools for the creation of messages aswell as the communications tools to route the message to the appropriateelectronic address. As long as the messages conform to the standardsestablished by central controller 200, an electronic mail program iscapable of generating and transmitting end user request 120. Thestandard would specify the address to send the message to, theinformation to be contained in the subject heading, and the processingorder of the body of the message. The first line of the body of theelectronic mail, for example, is the ID number of the end user. Thesecond line is their name, the third line is the subject, the fourth isthe qualifications required, and the fifth line is the price. Standardforms could also be electronically mailed to the end user, allowing himto simply fill in the blanks and return end user request 120 to centralcontroller 200. Similar forms and standards could be applied to fax andpostal mail transmissions.

Referring now to FIG. 7, end user request 120 is received, stored, andprocessed by central controller 200 before being routed to theappropriate experts. At step 700, end user request 120 is received fromthe end user. Central controller 200 supports all transmission methodsdescribed at step 650, allowing for a wide variety of formats ofincoming end user requests 120. Some formats may be changed, however,before further processing by central controller 200. End user requests120 transmitted by mail in paper form, for example, may be scanned-inand digitized, using optical character recognition software to createdigital text. Once end user request 120 has been received, it is storedin end user request database 265 where it is assigned a unique trackingnumber.

After being stored at step 700, end user request 120 may go through aseries of processing steps. One step, if necessary, is languagetranslation, either creating a standard language that all end userrequests 120 must be written in, or translating to the language mostappropriate for the experts to which it will be sent. This translationis provided by language experts registered with the system, or byautomatic translation software such as Systran Professional,manufactured by Systran Software. Twelve bi-directional languagecombinations are available, including English to/from French, Italian,German, Spanish, Portuguese, and Japanese. Another step, if necessary,is to edit for spelling or grammatical errors. End user request 120might also be reviewed for clarity. Any end user request 120 with anunclear question would be returned to the end user for clarification.

Another processing step searches for criteria 117. If no criteria 117have been included, end user request 120 is sent back to the end userfor resubmission. Alternatively, the end user can also provide criteria117 by selecting the subject of end user request 120 directly via anonline connection as described later in the interactive selectionembodiment. If the end user does not want to provide criteria 117, enduser request 120 may be classified by searching request 115 forpredetermined keywords or subject matter designators stored in subjectdatabase 297. These keywords are then used for generating criteria 117.A request 115 for real estate valuations in Finland, for example, mightbe assigned criteria 117 of “SUBJECT=Real Estate.” Subject database 297includes a list of key words associated with the subject of real estate,such as land, buildings, zoning, etc. Presence of one or more of thesekeywords in request 115 triggers a classification of request 115 as realestate.

There are a number of commercially available software packages whichperform these types of searches, such as Semantic Networks by ExcaliburTechnologies Corporation. The software provides the ability to retrieveapproximations of search queries and has a natural tolerance for errorsin both input data and query terms, as well as providing a high level ofconfidence that searches will be successful regardless of errors inspelling of the data being searched. Excalibur's baseline semanticnetwork supports multi-layered dictionary structures that enableintegration of specialized reference works for legal, medical, finance,engineering and other disciplines. Excalibur's RetrievalWare enablesdevelopers to build information retrieval solutions for the fullspectrum of digital information, including text, document images andmultimedia data types, allowing for indexing and retrieving of digitalimages based on their objective content. These components enable patternrecognition-based image retrieval applications that automaticallyrecognize certain types of visual information and provide extensiveimage management capabilities.

Before searching for the appropriate expert to respond to end userrequest 120, central controller 200 searches end user request database265 at step 710 for similar end user requests 120 so that unnecessaryduplication of work by experts is not performed. If end user request 120relates to tax strategies for small businesses and has been askedbefore, there may be no need for having an expert create a new expertanswer 130. It is simpler and cheaper to use the existing expert answer130. Conventional search algorithms are used to search end user requestdatabase 265 for duplicate or similar end user requests 120. Examples ofsuch string search algorithms include Knuth-Morris-Pratt, Rabin-Karp,Boyer-Moore, and Baeza-Yates-Gonnet. For reference, one of ordinaryskill in the art may refer to Thomas H. Cormen, et al, Introduction toAlgorithms, (MIT Press, 1990). Such algorithms could be used todetermine a match so that end user requests 120 using different formatsand sentence structure can be found. If a similar end user request 120is found at step 720, then the end user is given the option ofpurchasing the associated expert answer 130 at step 730. If the end userwants to buy it, expert answer 130 is transmitted to the end user atstep 740. A bill is sent to the end user at step 750, and royaltypayments are added to the account of the expert who generated expertanswer 130. These royalty payments may be a percentage of the price ofthe original end user request 120, a fixed payment per expert answer 130used, or a combination of both. Royalty payments might decline overtime, with a predetermined maximum royalty period.

Referring again to FIG. 7, if a similar end user request 120 is notfound at step 720, or if the end user decides not to buy expert answer130 at step 730, then central controller 200 begins to search forappropriate candidate experts satisfying criteria 117. At step 760,criteria 117 of end user request 120 are extracted and used asparameters for a search of expert database 255. At step 770, a list ofexperts is generated whose qualifications meet criteria 117. In a simpleexample, criteria 117 is “SUBJECT=mathematics and LEVEL=4 andPAPERS=number theory.” Central controller 200 searches expertqualifications database 285 for all records with expert qualifications140 field value of level four mathematician. From this subset ofexperts, the database field for publications is then searched,eliminating all experts who have not published in number theory. Theresulting list of experts satisfies criteria 117. Those skilled in theart will appreciate that there are many database search techniques inaddition to those protocols described above. Fuzzy logic protocols,expert systems, and other systems using artificial intelligence may alsobe used to search the database and identify experts who have expertqualifications 140 which correspond to criteria 117.

The search for qualified experts is not limited to those expertsregistered with the system, however. External databases of known expertsmay also be queried to find qualified experts. The above-mentionedMartindale-Hubbell Law Directory, for example, could be searched for aparticular specialist. When criteria 117 requires an attorney withexperience in medical malpractice, for example, these keywords areentered into the database to produce a list of candidate experts. Theseexperts may be added to the list of experts generated from registeredexperts. When no database currently exists for a particular group ofexperts, World Wide Web search tools such as Alta Vista may be employed.By typing in a few key words, resumes and personal home pages ofappropriate candidate experts are produced. A message may then be sentto this list of experts indicating that there may be work available forthem.

The resulting list of candidate experts may also be reduced afterexamining expert profiles 155 stored in expert database 255. Theseexpert profiles 155 contain rules or preferences regardingcharacteristics of end user requests 120 sent to the expert. Forexample, expert profile 155 (described in the selection embodiment)might indicate that he does not want any end user request 120transmitted to him that pays less than one hundred dollars. Or he mayindicate that no end user requests 120 are to be transmitted to him ifthey require a completion time of less than one hour, unless the subjectis fluid dynamics. These requirements are codified into rules andrelationships which can be executed by central controller 200, narrowingthe list of target experts.

Referring now to FIG. 8, there is illustrated a method for transmittingend user request 120 to the appropriate experts. At step 800, centralcontroller 200 generates a price for end user request 120 and attachesit. This price is based on several factors including the expected lengthof time to produce expert answer 130, complexity of expert answer 130,the qualifications of the expert, and criteria 117. End user request 120and price are transmitted to the qualifying experts at step 810, usingexpert address 145 contained in expert database 255. End user request120 is transmitted by e-mail, postal delivery, phone, pager, beeper,radio or television broadcast, etc. Alternatively, a combination ofthese methods is used. A message might be sent to the expert's beeper,for example, telling him to check his email for the complete end userrequest 120.

If the expert does not accept the job at step 820, he transmits a denialto central controller 200 at step 830, or simply does not respond. Ifthe expert accepts at step 820, he sends an acceptance message tocentral controller 200 at step 840. Central controller 200 tracksacceptances, transmitting end user request 120 back to the end user atstep 870 for resubmission if no acceptances are received within a givenperiod of time. If acceptances have been received at step 850, end userrequest 120 is transmitted at step 860 to the first responding expert.

FIG. 9 illustrates the concluding phase of the process in which theexpert develops expert answer 130. After receiving end user request 120,the expert develops expert answer 130 at step 900. At step 910, theexpert attaches his expert ID and then transmits expert answer 130 andexpert ID to central controller 200 at step 920. Central controller 200adds a tracking number to expert answer 130 and stores it in expertanswer database 270. The end user is billed at step 930. As will bedescribed in the billing embodiment of the present invention, end userpayment may take the form of a credit card transaction, the directtransfer of funds into his bank account, or other preferred methods.After billing the end user, expert answer 130 is transmitted to the enduser at step 940. At step 950, the expert is paid for expert answer 130produced.

After reviewing expert answer 130, the end user may be prompted bycentral controller 200 to provide reference data such as a rating fromone to ten, representing the perceived quality of expert answer 130.This rating is transmitted to central controller 200 where it is storedin expert database 255. These ratings are made available to other endusers as reference data, providing another parameter for the selectionprocess. These ratings are also used for quality control purposes, withwritten warnings provided to experts whose average ratings dropped belowan established level.

Billing Embodiment

FIGS. 10, 11, 12, 13, and 14 describe an exemplary payment and billingsystem of the present invention. End users are billed for expert answers130 received, and experts are compensated for expert answers 130produced. The system is capable of ensuring that experts receive paymentfor their work, whether or not the end user pays. This providesadditional incentive for experts to register with the system, as thepossibility of bad debt has been eliminated since central controller 200takes on the risk of not collecting from end users. End user invoicingand expert payment is described using conventional credit cardelectronic charges, checks, Electronic Funds Transfer (“EFT”), ordigital cash. These payment methods are meant to be merely illustrative,however, as there are many equivalent payment methods commonly known inthe art which may also be used.

In FIG. 10, the billing process is initiated at step 1000 when centralcontroller 200 transmits expert answer 130 to the end user (refer toFIG. 9, steps 930, 940 and 950). Once the billing process is started,the price and tracking number of end user request 120 is sent to billingdatabase 280 at step 1010. At step 1020, there are two billing protocolsthat can be used. The first, cash on delivery, requires that the enduser pay before receiving expert answer 130. The second protocol is acredit system in which the end user pays at the end of the billingperiod. In the cash on delivery protocol, billing processor 225generates a bill prior to sending expert answer 130 to the end user,proceeding immediately to step 1030. One exemplary embodiment of apayment guarantee means of the present invention is described asfollows. Central controller 200 requires the end user to prepay for atleast part of the services received, forcing the end user to keep aminimum balance of money in order to be eligible to use the system.Central controller 200 then automatically deducts the price of expertanswer 130 from this escrow account before expert answer 130 istransmitted to the end user. Transaction records and balance informationis stored in billing database 280. Rather than actually depositing themoney with central controller 200, the end user might instead berequired to merely have sufficient credit available. A credit card onfile with central controller 200, for example, is checked before enduser request 120 is sent to the expert. If sufficient credit remains inthe account, the expert is told to complete expert answer 130. If creditavailable is not sufficient to cover the price of expert answer 130, theend user is required to provide another credit card number. For EFTtransfers, the end user's account information is stored in billingdatabase 280, enabling central controller 200 to check the accountbalance before providing expert answer 130 to the end user.

In a credit protocol, processor 225 searches billing database 280 by enduser ID at the end of each billing period and totals the amount owed byeach end user. It should be noted that in this credit protocol, whilethe end user does not pay until the end of the billing period, theexpert may still receive payment immediately. Central controller 200pays the expert at step 870 when end user request 120 is sent to theexpert, or at step 930 at which point central controller 200 has alreadyreceived expert answer 130. At step 1030, the preferred billing methodis retrieved from end user database 260, and the appropriate billingmodule (credit card, EFT, check, electronic cash), is initiated at step1040. In an alternate embodiment, the end user does not pay for expertanswer 130 unless he is satisfied with it. This embodiment allows theend user to examine expert answer 130 for a given period of time, thenhe sends an authorization of payment to central controller 200 if he issatisfied. If the end user is not satisfied, a rejection message is sentto central controller 200 and an expert review process is started asdescribed in the customer satisfaction embodiment.

The process of paying the expert begins at step 1050 when the price andtracking number of end user request 120 are sent to payment database275, with the ID of the expert extracted from expert answer 130 andstored in payment database 275. At step 1060, payment processor 230searches payment database 275 by expert ID and totals the amount owed tothe expert. As with billing the end user, the expert could be paid usingeither a cash on delivery or credit protocol. Cash on delivery works thesame for the expert as it does for the end user. Payment is madeimmediately. In the credit protocol, the expert has an account withcentral controller 200 that maintains a balance for the expert. At step1070, the preferred payment method is retrieved from expert database255, and the appropriate payment module is initiated at step 1080. Thisstep may be held up until payment has been received from end user.During the period between payments, while the expert still has a balanceof funds due, it would be possible for the expert to use these funds topurchase expert answers 130 for himself, with the amount deducted fromthe balance represented in payment database 275.

Although the above protocols describe a number of ways in which paymentsmay flow from end user to expert, it is important to note the methods bywhich central controller 200 may generate revenues for servicesprovided.

In one embodiment, a flat fee is charged for every end user request 120submitted, with the end user paying the fee in addition to reimbursingthe expert. There could also be flat fees that would cover any number oftransactions over a given period of time, allowing end users tosubscribe to the service much as they would subscribe to a newspaper. Inanother embodiment, central controller 200 creates a bid/ask spread inwhich end users are charged a premium over the cost of the expert. If anexpert requires fifty dollars for an expert answer 130, centralcontroller 200 may mark this up by 20%, charging the end user sixtydollars. Experts may be retained by central controller 200 on a salariedbasis, with revenues collected from end users paying those salaries. Inanother embodiment, advertisers pay to have messages included in enduser request 120, expert answer 130, or web pages of central controller200. Advertising revenues then partially or fully offset the cost ofexpert answer 130. Payments to experts for expert answers 130 producedmay also be reduced in exchange for the expert's advertising messagedisplayed at central controller 200 or in expert answer 130.Alternatively, the method and apparatus of the present invention may beemployed without a payment feature.

Once the amount owed by the end user and the amount to be paid to theexpert has been calculated, appropriate billing and payment methods areinitiated. FIG. 11 illustrates an exemplary payment and billingprocedure using credit cards as the primary transaction vehicle. Theadvantage of this system is its simplicity. No bank account isnecessary, and no paper transactions are required. At step 1100, centralcontroller 200 looks up the credit card number of the end user in enduser database 260. At step 1105, this credit card number is transmittedto billing processor 225. Billing processor 225 contacts the credit cardclearinghouse to get an authorization number at step 1110. The billableamount appears on the credit card statement of the end user at step1115. At step 1120, the clearinghouse posts this amount to centralcontroller 200 account. At step 1125, central controller 200 updatesbilling database 280 to indicate that payment has been made. A similarprocess occurs on the payment side. At step 1130, central controller 200looks up the credit card number of the expert in expert database 255. Atstep 1135, this credit card number is transmitted to payment processor230. Payment processor 230 contacts the issuing bank to verify that theaccount is still active at step 1140. Value is added to the expert'scredit card account at step 1145, where it shows up as a credit on hismonthly bill. At step 1150, central controller 200 updates paymentdatabase 275 to indicate that payment has been made.

FIG. 12 illustrates a payment procedure involving standard bank checks.In billing the end user, central controller 200 looks up his mailingaddress at step 1200 in end user database 260. This address istransmitted to billing processor 225 at step 1210. A bill is mailed tothe end user at step 1220, and the check is received from the end userat step 1230. At step 1240, central controller 200 updates billingdatabase 280 to indicate that payment has been made. At step 1250,central controller 200 looks up the mailing address of the expert inexpert database 255. This information is transmitted to paymentprocessor 230 at step 1260. Payment processor 230 then automaticallycuts a hard copy check, payable to the expert, which is then mailed tothe expert at step 1270. At step 1280, central controller 200 updatespayment database 275 to indicate that payment has been made.

Referring now to FIG. 13, there is illustrated a procedure in whichfunds are transferred via electronic funds transfer (EFT). At step 1300,the bank account number of the end user is looked up in end userdatabase 260. This account number is transmitted to billing processor225 at step 1310, followed by the transfer of funds directly into theaccount of central controller 200 at step 1320. At step 1330, centralcontroller 200 updates billing database 280 to indicate that payment hasbeen made. Paying the expert is essentially the reverse process. At step1340, central controller 200 searches expert database 255 for the bankaccount number of the expert. This bank account number is transmitted topayment processor 230 at step 1350, which transfers the money directlyinto the account of the expert at step 1360. At step 1370, paymentdatabase 275 is updated to indicate that payment has been made.

Referring now to FIG. 14, there are shown commercial transactionprocedures using digital cash. For billing the end user, centralcontroller 200 looks up the end user's electronic delivery address inend user database 260 at step 1400. This address is transmitted tobilling processor 225 at step 1410, with the digital cash beingdownloaded from the end user at step 1420. At step 1430, centralcontroller 200 updates billing database 280 to indicate that payment hasbeen made. Payment to the expert proceeds similarly. At step 1440, theelectronic delivery address is sent to payment processor 230. Thisaddress might be an email address if the digital cash is to betransferred by email, or it could be an Internet Protocol addresscapable of accepting an online transfer of digital cash. At step 1450,this electronic delivery address is sent to payment processor 230. Atstep 1460, the digital cash is downloaded to the expert. At step 1470,central controller 200 updates payment database 275 to indicate thatpayment has been made. Using these digital cash protocols, it ispossible for the end user to include payment along with end user request120 in e-mail form. An end user who had already negotiated a final pricewith an expert for expert answer 130, for example, could include digitalcash along with his confirmation of the acceptability of the price.

The practice of using digital cash protocols to effect payment is wellknown in the art and need not be described here in detail. Forreference, one of ordinary skill in the art may refer to Daniel C. Lynchand Leslie Lundquist, Digital Money, John Wiley & Sons, 1996; or SethGodin, Presenting Digital Cash, Sams Net Publishing, 1995.

Interactive Selection Embodiment

In one embodiment of the present invention, the end user selects theexpert(s) prior to transmitting end user request 120, rather than havingcentral controller 200 select for the end user based on criteria 117. Inthis embodiment, end user request 120 sent to central controller 200includes the ID number of the selected expert(s). The benefit toselecting the expert prior to sending end user request 120 is that theend user gains more control over the routing of end user request 120,allowing the end user to include some experts while excluding others.For example, if end user request 120 involves a particular business, theend user may not want central controller 200 to route end user request120 to certain experts involved with that business. In order tofacilitate the end user selecting the expert, the present inventionincludes an interactive selection embodiment. FIGS. 15 and 16 show aninteractive selection embodiment which allows the end user to establishan online connection with central controller 200, select a subject areamatching end user request 120, select qualified experts, and then submitend user request 120.

FIG. 15 describes an embodiment of the present invention wherein the enduser selects an expert to respond to request 115. The end userestablishes an online connection via the INTERNET, AOL, CompuServe,Prodigy, or other conventional online system to central controller 200at step 1500. End user interface 500 displays a screen on video monitor530 which offers a selection of predetermined subject areas at step1510, such as Finance, Real Estate, Medicine, Legal, Sports, Music,Recreation, Hobbies, etc. as described in box 1515. These subject areasare stored in subject database 297. The end user selects a category, andis prompted to select from various sub-categories at step 1520, such aspediatrics or optometry, within the medicine category as described inbox 1525.

After a sub-category is selected, a list showing expert qualification140 levels is displayed as in box 1535, e.g., Level 1, Level 2, Level 3,etc. Each level corresponds to predetermined groupings of expertqualifications 140 for the selected subject area, which have been storedin expert qualifications database 285. Once a level of expertise hasbeen selected at step 1530, a list of expert IDs is displayed along withan option to see specific expert qualifications 140 as well as pricingfor the expert. In addition, ratings for that expert may be madeavailable. In an effort to prevent end users from contacting expertsoutside the system prior to a deal being reached, the user may beprevented from seeing contact information such as phone number orlocation. If the end user ultimately does not select an expert, but isthen discovered to have negotiated a job with an expert outside thesystem, he may be charged a usage fee as a percentage of the total valueof the job. In one embodiment, the end user agrees to such restrictionswhen he registers with the system.

The end user then selects the number and level of expert(s) at step 1540from which he would like to receive an expert answer 130. The end useris prompted for end user request 120 and payment authorization at step1550. In addition, the end user may enter payment preferences, such ascredit card, EFT, or digital cash as shown in box 1555.

FIG. 16 shows how the end user makes his request 115 to the selectedexpert and how the expert receives payment for expert answer 130.Request 115 is combined with the end user's ID and expert ID(s) to formend user request 120 at step 1600. If additional security is necessary,a cryptographic key (as shown in box 1605) may be used along with theend user's ID. End user request 120 is transmitted to central controller200 for distribution to the selected experts. At step 1620, centralcontroller 200 stores end user request 120 in end user request database265. Central controller 200 may authenticate the user as well, as shownin box 1615. The cryptographic protocols described in the cryptographicauthentication embodiment may be used for steps 1605 and 1615.

End user request 120 is then transmitted to the expert at step 1630. Theexpert can either accept or reject end user request 120 at step 1640. Ifthe expert rejects end user request 120, the user is notified and thetransaction stops at step 1650. If an expert chooses to respond to enduser request 120 at step 1640, the expert sends confirmation to centralcontroller 200 and begins to answer end user request 120 at step 1660.Central controller 200 then sends billing authorization to paymentprocessor 230 at step 1670.

As with the asynchronous communications embodiment, the end userreceives expert answer 130 from the expert and is billed for theservices rendered. See the billing embodiment for more details of thisprocess. As far as the expert is concerned, this system isindistinguishable from the asynchronous communications embodiment.

Synchronous Communications Embodiment

In one embodiment of the present invention, end users who requirecontinuous interaction with an expert can establish a synchronouscommunication channel with the expert. Although many problems can besolved using an asynchronous communications protocol, those problemsrequiring follow up questions from the expert to the end user and viceversa need real-time communications. For example, if a patient has aquestion about a lump found under his arm, the oncologist may have toask a series of questions to determine what the lump might be. There areseveral embodiments of synchronous communications the end user andexpert can engage in: one expert to one end user, one expert to many endusers, many experts to one end user, and many experts to many end users.Although protocols will be described in detail for one expert to one enduser communications, those skilled in the art will appreciate that theseprotocols may be applied to all four embodiments. In the describedembodiment, the expert and the end user exchange a series of end userrequests 120 and expert answers 130 using a one-to-one synchronouscommunications channel such as telephone, real-time text messaging orvideo conferencing.

The end user can request a synchronous communication channel when hemakes his initial end user request 120 using any of the embodiments ofthe present invention including the asynchronous communicationsembodiment and the interactive selection embodiment. If criteria 117includes a request for real-time communications, central controller 200generates a list of all qualified experts (as shown in FIG. 7, step 770)who are willing to establish a synchronous communications channel.Although many synchronous communications channels may be used, in thisembodiment an online messaging system is described which uses a standardonline service to provide the real-time text-based communications linkbetween the expert and the end user.

Referring now to FIGS. 17, 18, 19, and 20, there is shown a synchronouscommunications embodiment in which a continuous communications channelis established between the expert and end user using message window 170.Message window 170 is a text-based computer “window” displayed on videomonitor 530 of end user interface 500 and on video monitor 430 of expertinterface 400. The end user types end user requests 120 directly tomessage window 170 which appears on video monitor 530. Simultaneously,the expert sees end user request 120 on his video monitor 430. When theexpert types expert answer 130, the end user instantly sees expertanswer 130 and responds with another end user request 120 or exits thesystem.

FIG. 17 shows how the user accesses message window 170. At step 1700,the end user connects to an online service. This might be AmericaOnline, CompuServe, Prodigy, or even a BBS as shown in box 1705. Theonline service, however, acts only as the interface for the presentinvention. Control of user access, qualifications, billing, payment, andother functions still resides at central controller 200. Online servicesact merely as a convenient conduit for synchronous communications giventheir capacity to handle tens of thousands of simultaneouscommunications. In another embodiment, central controller 200 handlesall synchronous connections directly, eliminating the need for onlinenetworks. At step 1710, a communications channel is opened betweencentral controller 200 and the online service. The communicationschannel is a direct electronic link such as a circuit switched or packetswitched network connection. Once this connection has been made, the enduser provides his ID number at step 1720 and his payment information atstep 1730. Payment information includes a credit card account number,bank account number or other payment method as shown in box 1735.

After the end user has been authorized to enter the system, he eitherselects an expert from the list of experts generated by centralcontroller 200 as described in the asynchronous embodiment (FIGS. 6,7,8and 9) or selects an expert as described in the interactive selectionembodiment (FIGS. 15 and 16) at step 1740. Once an expert has beenselected, central controller 200 assigns message window 170 to the enduser. If additional security is required, the end user may be requiredto provide a password to central controller 200 prior to gainingadmittance to message window 170. If the selected expert is not online,central controller 200 sends a message to the expert (via e-mail,telephone, beeper, fax, etc.) stating that an online session isavailable at step 1750. If central controller 200 does not receive aresponse within a predetermined time (usually specified in criteria 117)central controller 200 sends a message to the end user and allows him toselect another expert. Once the end user enters message window 170, asignal is sent to central controller 200 to begin tracking messagewindow time for billing based on the access to the expert at step 1760.

FIG. 18 describes the operational aspects of message window 170. At step1800, the end user has entered message window 170 and inputs end userrequests 120 through end user interface 500. After the end user andexpert have exchanged a plurality of end user requests 120 and expertanswers 130 at step 1810, the end user leaves message window 170 at step1820. This may involve a log off procedure in which the end user signalsmessage window 170 that he has ended the session. At step 1830, messagewindow 170 transmits a message to central controller 200 which ends thebilling period for that particular session. The end user's account isbilled at step 1840, using any of the various billing methodologiesdescribed in the billing embodiment.

There are multiple ways of charging the end user for time spent inmessage window 170, including a per question basis, per minute inmessage window 170, per expert answer 130 given by an expert, or anyother method of measuring the end user's usage. In one embodiment, eachmessage window has a different cost method based on expertqualifications 140.

Although the above protocol describes expert answers 130 delivered inreal time, it would be possible for the experts to provide answers at alater time in a follow-up e-mail or voice mail to the end user. Forexample, the expert might need time to do research prior to providingexpert answer 130.

FIG. 19 describes the method by which the expert registers with centralcontroller 200 for a synchronous communications session. At step 1900,the expert connects to the online service in the same manner as the enduser. At step 1910, he connects to central controller 200 as the enduser did, although a different channel of communications may be used ifgreater security is required. After the connection is made at step 1920,the expert provides an ID number and is given access to the system. Foradditional security, the expert may be required to produce a passwordand/or submit to a challenge/reply protocol in which he must produce apiece of information known only to that expert, such as his mother'smaiden name or his social security number. Before the expert entersmessage window 170, he receives a compensation offer at step 1940 basedon the his qualifications 140, i.e., licenses, degrees, memberships,certifications, industry experience, etc. The offer is on a per hourbasis, the number of questions answered, or another equivalent basis. Inone embodiment, the expert's services are sold on a prepaid basis withthe expert agreeing to provide a fixed number of consulting hours orsessions over a given time period.

FIG. 20 describes the procedure once the expert has received thecompensation offer. If the expert does not accept the compensation offerat step 2000, he is given the option to wait for another message window170. Central controller 200 then contacts another qualified expert toenter message window 170 at step 2060. If the compensation offer isaccepted at step 2000, the expert is provided with a password at step2010 that allows access to message window 170. After providing thispassword at step 2020, the expert enters message window 170. At step2030, the expert provides expert answers 130 to end user requests 120generated by the end user in message window 170.

In an alternative embodiment, the end user or the expert may request asecond expert to join the synchronous communications channel. The secondexpert is added to message window 170 in a similar manner to the firstexpert. The second expert provides additional information to the enduser and can collaborate with the first expert to provide expert answers130. A second expert may also be contracted by central controller 200 toact as a monitor for the first expert. This second expert is paid tomonitor the first expert's performance and/or supply additionalinformation to the end user. The second expert also provides a level ofquality assurance by verifying the responses of the first expert,correcting responses or adding clarifying information.

After the session, the expert leaves message window 170 at step 2040 andreceives compensation from central controller 200 at step 2050. Ifcompensation is based on the time spent in message window 170, messagewindow 170 generates a time log and sends it to central controller 200.This time log includes the ID number of the expert, the time that heentered message window 170, and the time that he exited. Centralcontroller 200 combines this information with the appropriate rate perhour and determines a final compensation amount. This amount istransferred to the expert, or accumulates in an account at centralcontroller 200 for payment at a predetermined time as described in thebilling embodiment.

In an alternative embodiment, end users and experts can be connecteddirectly using synchronous communications channels such as the telephonenetwork. In this embodiment, the end user calls central controller 200and connects to the IVRU (Interactive Voice Response Unit). The end useris prompted to respond to requests similar to those described in theinteractive selection embodiment. As shown in FIG. 15, the end userenters his ID, selects the subject, sub-category, and expert level viathe IVRU prompts. Central controller 200 automatically connects to anexpert already online or calls an appropriate expert and connects theend user. When the end user is finished asking questions, he hangs up,triggering central controller 200 to end the billing period. Payment andbilling occur in similar manners as described in the billing embodiment.

Grading Embodiment

FIGS. 21, 22, 23, and 24 depict an embodiment in which tests, submittedby the end user (in this case the test taker or test administrator), aregraded by experts. This embodiment differs from previous embodiments inthat the question and the answer are both transmitted to the expert.Thus, an essay may be transmitted along with a model answer, requiringthe expert to produce an evaluation of the test taker's answer, ratherthan producing the answer itself.

In this embodiment, criteria 117 represent the expert qualifications 140of the grader, e.g., price, time frame, subject matter expertise,educational background, licenses, certifications, etc. Centralcontroller 200 manages the data communications between the graders andtest takers. Moreover, test submissions (expert questions) may bedivided so that different graders receive different portions of the sametest submission.

FIG. 21 describes the process of test generation. This embodimentinvolves a test giver and a test taker. At step 2100, the test givergenerates test questions and answers for a particular test. At step2110, the tests are distributed to the test takers. A list of IDs of alltest takers who took the test is produced at step 2120. At step 2130,criteria 117 are added to this list to indicate the required level ofexpertise to grade the test. At step 2140 the test giver combines thequestions, answers, test taker IDs, his own test giver ID, and criteria117 to form grading request 125. This grading request 125 is transmittedto central controller 200 at step 2150. Central controller 200authenticates grading request 125 at step 2160 by checking the attachedtest giver ID number. If more secure authentication protocols arerequired, the cryptographic techniques described in the cryptographicauthentication embodiment may be used.

The test taker completes the test at step 2170. If the test was nottaken in electronic form, it is converted to electronic form at step2180. An essay test, for example, might be completed with paper andpencil and then converted into electronic format by digitally scanningit, pasting the resulting images into email messages. Such tests couldalso be faxed directly to central controller 200, with the digital imagebeing stored directly in end user request database 265. After attachinghis test taker ID at step 2190, test taker answers are transmitted tocentral controller 200 at step 2150.

FIG. 22 describes the process of breaking up the tests into individualquestions and receiving payment acknowledgment. At step 2200, gradingrequest 125 is stored in end user request database 265. At step 2210,the tests are broken up into individual questions or sections. Ageometry test, for example, might consist of five proofs. At step 2220,central controller 200 generates a list of graders whose expertqualifications 140 meet criteria 117 of grading request 125. At step2230, price information is transmitted to the test administrator. If theprice is accepted by the test administrator at step 2240, paymentacknowledgment is sent to central controller 200 at step 2260. If theprice is not accepted, no further action is taken at step 2250.Alternatively, the test administrator might send back to centralcontroller 200 a counter-offer at a lower price. At step 2270,notification of grading request 125 is sent to all graders on the listof qualified graders.

Referring now to FIG. 23, there is shown an exemplary embodiment fortransmitting test components to graders. If the grader accepts the testcomponents at step 2300, he sends an acknowledgment to centralcontroller 200 at step 2320. If the grader does not accept, no furtheraction is taken at step 2310. At step 2330, if more than one grader hasaccepted the work, then a determination is made at step 2340 as towhether or not the test components can go to multiple graders. If thetest components can go to multiple graders, then the test components aredistributed based on criteria 117 of grading request 125 at step 2350.If the test components cannot be split up, then a single grader isselected at step 2360 based on criteria 117 of grading request 125.After step 2350 and 2360, the test components are transmitted to theappropriate grader at step 2370. If only one grader accepts the work atstep 2330, then the test components are transmitted to the grader atstep 2370.

Referring now to FIG. 24, at step 2400, the grader completes the gradingof each test component sent to him, transmitting the results to centralcontroller 200 at step 2410. In order to ensure that the responses havecome from a legitimate grader, the responses can be authenticated atstep 2415. Techniques described in the cryptographic authenticationembodiment may be used if more secure authentication is required.Central controller 200 then reassembles the test components back intocomplete tests at step 2420. At step 2430, the test administrator isbilled for the grading. At step 2440, the graded tests are transmittedto the test administrator, payment is then made to the graders.

Using the authentication and anonymity features described below, anelectronic grading system can be provided wherein the test takers andtest administrators (end users) do not know the identity of the graders(experts); conversely the graders do not know the identity of the testtakers.

Cryptographic Authentication Embodiment

In the previous embodiments, authentication of the end user and expertinvolves checking the attached ID or name and comparing it with thosestored in expert database 255 and end user database 260. Although thisprocedure works well in a low security environment, it can besignificantly improved through the use of cryptographic techniques.These techniques not only enhance the ability to authenticate the senderof a message, but also serve to verify the integrity of the messageitself, proving that it has not been altered during transmission.Encryption can also prevent eavesdroppers from learning the contents ofthe message. Such techniques shall be referred to generally ascryptographic assurance methods, and will include the use of bothsymmetric and asymmetric keys as well as digital signatures and hashalgorithms.

The practice of using cryptographic protocols to ensure the authenticityof senders as well as the integrity of messages is well known in the artand need not be described here in detail. For reference, one of ordinaryskill in the art may refer to Bruce Schneier, Applied Cryptography,Protocols, Algorithms, And Source Code In C, (2d Ed, John Wiley & Sons,Inc., 1996).

FIG. 25 describes a symmetric key embodiment in which the expert andcentral controller share a key. Thus both encryption and decryption ofexpert answer 130 are performed with the same key. This encryption maybe implemented with an algorithm such as DES (U.S. Government standard,specified in FIPS PUB 46), or with any of several algorithms known inthe art such as IDEA, Blowfish. RC4, RC2, SAFER, etc. The expertencrypts expert answer 130 with his assigned symmetric key at step 2500,using cryptographic processor 435 of expert interface 400. The key maybe stored in information storage 470 or otherwise stored or memorized bythe expert. The encrypted expert answer 130 is then transmitted tocryptographic processor 210 of central controller 200 at step 2510.Cryptographic processor 210 extracts the expert ID from the message atstep 2520 and looks up the symmetric key of the expert in cryptographickey database 290 at step 2530, decrypting expert answer 130 with thiskey at step 2540. Cryptographic key database 290 contains algorithms andkeys for encrypting, decrypting and/or authenticating messages. At step2550, if the resulting message is intelligible, then it must have beenencrypted by the same key, authenticating that the expert must haveindeed been the author of expert answer 130.

This procedure makes it significantly more difficult for an attacker torepresent himself as an expert. Without cryptographic procedures, anattacker who obtained a sample expert answer 130 from a given expertwould be able to extract the expert ID and then attach this ID number toany of the attacker's expert answers 130. When the message has beenencrypted with a symmetric key, however, an attacker obtaining a sampleexpert answer 130 only discovers the expert's ID number, not thesymmetric key. Without this key, the attacker cannot create an expertanswer 130 that will not be discovered by central controller 200, sincehe cannot encrypt his message in the same way that the authentic expertcould. The symmetric key protocol also ensures that the message has notbeen tampered with during transmission, since alteration of the messagerequires knowledge of the symmetric key. An encrypted end user request120 also provides the end user with more anonymity.

Referring now to FIG. 26, there is shown an asymmetric key protocol inwhich expert answer 130 is encrypted with a private key and decryptedwith a public key. Two such algorithms for this procedure are RSA andDSA. At step 2600, the expert encrypts expert answer 130 with hisprivate key using cryptographic processor 435, transmitting expertanswer 130 to central controller 200 at step 2610. Cryptographicprocessor 210 extracts his expert ID at step 2620 and looks up theexpert's associated public key in cryptographic key database 290 at step2630, decrypting the message with this public key at step 2640. Asbefore, if the message is intelligible then central controller 200 hasauthenticated the expert at step 2650. Again, attackers obtaining themessage before it was received by central controller 200 are not able toundetectably alter it since they do not know the private key of theexpert. Attackers would, however, be able to read the message if theymanaged to obtain the public key of the expert. Message secrecy isobtained if the expert encrypted the message with his public key,requiring the attacker to know the expert's private key to view themessage.

FIG. 27 shows a cryptographic technique using digital signatures toprovide authentication and message integrity. One such algorithm is DSA(Digital Signature Algorithm), the U.S. Government standard specified inFIPS PUB 186. As in the asymmetric protocol described above, each experthas an associated public and private key. The expert signs expert answer130 with his private key at step 2700 with cryptographic processor 435and transmits it to central controller 200 at step 2710. Cryptographicprocessor 210 extracts the expert ID at step 2720 and looks up theexpert's public key at step 2730, verifying the signature using expertanswer 130 and the public key of the expert at step 2740. If expertanswer 130 is intelligible, then central controller 200 accepts expertanswer 130 as authentic at step 2750.

Referring now to FIG. 28, there is described a cryptographic techniqueusing message authentication codes for verifying the authenticity andintegrity of expert answers 130. In the hash protocol of the presentinvention, the expert and central controller 200 share a symmetric key,which the expert includes in a hash of his expert answer 130 at step2800. In the hash protocol, a one-way function is applied to the digitalrepresentation of expert answer 130, generating a code that acts muchlike the fingerprint of expert answer 130. Any of the MAC algorithms,such as RIPE-MAC, IBC-Hash, CBC-MAC, and the like may be applied in thisapplication. After transmitting the message to central controller 200 atstep 2810, cryptographic processor 210 looks up the expert's symmetrickey at step 2830 and hashes expert answer 130 with this symmetric key atstep 2840, comparing the resulting hash value with the hash valueattached to expert answer 130. If the values match at step 2850, theintegrity of the message is verified along with the authenticity of theauthor.

Although cryptographic techniques can provide greater confidence in theauthenticity of an expert answer 130, they are useless if the expert'scryptographic keys are compromised. An attacker obtaining the symmetrickey of another expert is indistinguishable from that expert in the eyesof central controller 200. There is no way to know whether the expertwas the true author of expert answer 130, or an attacker with the rightcryptographic keys. The only way to solve this problem (known asundetected substitution) is to use biometric devices such as afingerprint reader, voice recognition system, retinal scanner and thelike. These devices incorporate a physical attribute of the expert intohis expert answer 130, which is then compared with the value stored inexpert database 255 at central controller 200. In the present invention,such devices attach to expert interface 400.

Fingerprint verification, for example, may be executed before thecreation of expert answer 130, during the generation of expert answer130 in response to prompts from central controller 200, at somepredetermined or random times, or continuously by incorporating thescanning lens into the expert's answer device such that the expert isrequired to maintain his finger on the scanning lens at all times duringthe response session for continuous verification.

An example of such an identification device is the FC100 FINGERPRINTVERIFIER available from Startek, a Taiwanese company. The FC100 isreadily adaptable to any PC via an interface card. The fingerprintverifier utilizes an optical scanning lens. The expert places his or herfinger on the lens, and the resulting image is scanned, digitized, andthe data compressed and stored in memory. Typically, a 256-byte file isall that is required. Each live-scan fingerprint is compared against thepreviously enrolled/stored template, stored in expert interface 400. Ifthe prints do not match, the cryptographic algorithms in expertinterface 400 may prevent the expert from generating an expert answer130.

In a voice verification embodiment, the expert's voice is used to verifyhis identity. This embodiment has the advantage of not requiring the useof any specialized hardware since it can be implemented over a standardphone connection. The expert's identity is verified at central computer200. The process of obtaining a voice-print and subsequently using it toverify a person's identity is well-known in the art, and therefore neednot be described in detail herein. One of ordinary skill in the art mayrefer to SpeakEZ, Inc. for voice identification/verification technology.Conventional speaker identification software samples the expert's voice.This sample is stored at central controller 200 in expert database 255.Each time the expert wants to send an expert answer 130 to centralcontroller 200, he is required to call central controller 200 and speakinto the phone at the prompt for a voice sample. If this sample matchesthat stored in expert database 255, the expert is provided a passwordwhich is incorporated into the digital signature appended to expertanswer 130. Any expert answer 130 received without an appropriate voicematch password is not accepted. The voice-print may also be stored in adatabase at expert interface 400, to verify the expert's identity atthat location prior to allowing an expert answer 130 to be created.

Anonymous Transactions Embodiment

As mentioned previously, the present invention provides for theanonymity of both end users and experts. Such anonymity is accomplishedby eliminating all references to the names of the individuals for alltransactions. An end user, for example, would include his ID in end userrequest 120 rather than his name, preventing the expert receiving enduser request 120 from discovering the end user's identity. This isdesirable if the end user were a celebrity seeking psychiatric advice,or if the president of a major pharmaceutical manufacturer is asking foran evaluation of a potential acquisition in the biotech field.

In a similar manner, experts may also want to keep their identity asecret. An author providing critiques of amateur works might not wanthis fans bombarding him with questions. A high priced lawyer givinglow-cost advice to certain clients might not want his other clients toknow.

Both experts and end users may also require varying levels of anonymity.One expert, for example, may feel comfortable revealing the country heis from but not the city, while another expert is comfortable providinghis professional association but not the industry he represents.

Although using ID numbers can provide anonymity, both for end users andexperts, there are a number of potential weaknesses. First, if thedatabase of ID numbers, stored in expert database 255 or end userdatabase 260, and their respective experts/end users is compromised,anonymity is destroyed since the message sender can be looked up inexpert database 255 or end user database 260. To prevent this, the IDnumbers are encrypted with the public key of central controller 200, sothat even if it is stolen it is useless without the private key.

Another problem is that someone capable of watching the flow of end userrequests 120 and expert answers 130 into and out of central controller200 might be able to discern which end user was getting an expert answer130 from which expert. The attacker might do this by examining thelength of the outgoing end user request 120. A reporter, for example,might be interested in the questions that a celebrity was asking. Hecould track messages transmitted by the celebrity, observing messagesleaving central controller 200 to see if any were of the same length.This might give the reporter clues as to the type of expertise sought bythe celebrity.

Referring now to FIG. 29, there is described a method to prevent thisattack using the anonymous mix 180 of the present invention. Anonymousmix 180 uses a protocol to make it very difficult for anyone to tracethe path of a message which passes through the mix. Anonymous mix 180takes outgoing messages from central controller 200 and randomly variesboth the length of the message as well as the timing of its delivery. Anincoming message of two hundred kilobytes, for example, might beexpanded to three hundred kilobytes by adding random characters at theend. An attacker would thus be unable to correlate (by length ofmessage) the incoming end user requests 120 with end user request 120sent to the various experts. By adding a random time delay in theprocessing of incoming end user requests 120, central controller 200also prevents an attacker from correlating (based on time) incoming enduser requests 120 with outgoing end user requests 120.

An example of the anonymous protocol employed in the present inventionis set forth below.

Notation and Conventions for this protocol:

a. PKE_{PK_U}(X) represents the public-key encryption of X under publickey PK_U.

b. SIGN_{SK_U}(X) represents the digital signature of X under privatekey SK_U.

c. E_{K_(—)0}(X) represents the symmetric encryption of X under keyK_(—)0.

d. PK_U represents the public key of user U.

e. SK_U represents the private key of user U.

f. D_U represents the identification number or code of user U.

g. X,Y represents the concatenation of X with Y.

Anonymous Mix

Keys used in this protocol:

a. PK_M is the anonymous mix 180 public key.

b. ID_B Is Bob's ID.

c. PK_B is Bob's public key.

d. SK_B is Bob's private key.

When Alice sends Bob a message through anonymous mix 180, the followingtakes place:

-   -   a. Alice wishes to send message T to Bob anonymously. She first        forms:        -   K_(—)0=a random session key.        -   P_(—)0=an all-zero string of some random length.        -   X_(—)0=PKE_{PK_M}(K_(—)0).        -   M_(—)0=X_(—)0,E_{K_(—)0}(ID_B,P_(—)0,T).    -   Alice then sends M_(—)0 to the anonymous mix 180. Note that        Alice may also have encrypted and digitally signed the message        she's sending to Bob. This has no bearing at all on how the        anonymous mix 180 processes it. P_(—)0 disguises the size of the        message, making it impossible to correlate incoming messages        with outgoing messages.    -   b. Anonymous mix 180 receives M_(—)0. Using X_(—)0, anonymous        mix 180 decodes the random session key K_(—)0 using anonymous        mix 180 private key SK_M and then using K_(—)0, ID_B, T and        P_(—)0 are decrypted. The anonymous mix 180 looks up Bob's        public key from ID_B, and then forms:        -   K_(—)1=a random session key.        -   P_(—)1=an all-zero string of some random length.        -   X_(—)1=PKE_{PK_B}(K_(—)1).        -   M_(—)1=X_(—)1, E_{K_(—)1}(P_(—)1,T)    -   Anonymous mix 180 waits some random amount of time before        sending M_(—)1 to Bob. During this time, it is processing many        other messages, both sending and receiving them.    -   c. Bob receives M_(—)1. He decrypts it using his private key,        SK_B and recovers T. He then does whatever he needs to with T.

In order to make messages anonymous that pass through an intermediaryanonymous mix 180, a large volume of messages coming in and out arereviewed. A random delay involved in forwarding those messages is alsorequired. Otherwise, it is possible for an opponent to watch messagesgoing into and coming out of anonymous mix 180, using this informationto determine the source and destination of each message. Similarly,messages must be encrypted to the anonymous mix 180, so that themessages can be decrypted and re-encrypted with a different key. Also,messages may need to be broken into many pieces or padded with largeblocks of data, to avoid having message lengths give away information.

Another embodiment of the present invention uses anonymous mix 180 aspart of a protocol to maintain anonymity between two people using atrusted third party, such as central controller 200 using public-keycryptography for encryption and digital signatures. The exact algorithmsare unimportant at the protocol level. All public keys are signed by acertification authority like central controller 200. Certificates can besent with messages and different keys can be used for encryption anddigital signatures. The trusted third party knows everyone's public keyand everyone knows the third party's public key. Anonymous mix 180either knows everyone's public keys or their public keys are sent alongwith their identities. Everyone is assumed to know anonymous mix 180'spublic keys. An example of the trusted third party protocol isillustrated below.

A Trusted Third Party Protocol Using Anonymous Mix 180

DEFINITIONS

-   -   a. Alice is the end user.    -   b. Bob is the qualified expert.    -   c. Carol is the trusted third party (central controller)        coordinating the whole thing.        -   Keys used in this protocol:        -   PK_M is anonymous mix 180 public key.        -   ID_A is Alice's ID.        -   PK_A is Alice's public key.        -   SK_A is Alice's private key.        -   ID_B is Bob's ID.        -   PK_B is Bob's public key.        -   SK_B is Bob's private key.        -   PK_C is Carol's public key.    -   a. Alice creates some submission, S. This may be an end user        request 120 or material for review by an expert. Alice then        forms:        -   K_(—)2=a random session key. This is an additional random            session key and should not be confused with the key (K_(—)0)            Alice uses to send the message to the anonymous mix 180.        -   R_(—)0=a random challenge either generated by Alice or given            to her by someone else, depending on the application. In            this case, central controller 200 will provide the end user            (Alice) with a unique password to be used when Alice is to            receive expert answer 130.        -   X_(—)0=PKE_{PK_C}(K_(—)2) encrypted under Carol's public            key.        -   X_(—)1=SIGN {SK_A}(ID_A,R_(—)0,S).        -   M_(—)0=X_(—)0,E_{K_(—)2}(ID_A,R_(—)0,S,X_(—)1).    -   She sends M_(—)0 to Carol via anonymous mix 180.    -   b. Carol receives M_(—)0 and decrypts it using her private key,        the random session key K_(—)2, and verifies the signature. As        central controller 200, she selects Bob out of all qualified        experts available. She then forms:        -   K_(—)3=a random session key.        -   N=a random end user request 120 identifier.        -   T=a time stamp.        -   X_(—)2=PKE_{PK_B}(K_(—)3) encrypted under Bob's public key.        -   X_(—)3=SIGN_{SK_C}(ID_C,N,T,S)        -   X_(—)4=E_{K_(—)3}(ID_C,N,T,S,X_(—)3)        -   M_(—)1=X_(—)2,X_(—)4.    -   She sends M_(—)1 to Bob via anonymous mix 180. She stores N,        ID_A, and T for future reference.    -   c. Bob receives M_(—)1. He decrypts it using his private key,        the random session key K_(—)3, and verifies the signature and        time stamp. He then answers end user request 120. When he is        finished, he has formed an expert answer G. He then forms:        -   K_(—)4=a random session key.        -   X_(—)5=PKE_{PK_C}(K_(—)4) encrypted under Carol's public            key.        -   X_(—)6=SIGN_{SK_B}(ID_B,N,G)        -   X_(—)7=E_{K_(—)4}(ID_B,N,G,X_(—)6)        -   M_(—)2=X_(—)5,X_(—)7.    -   d. Carol receives M_(—)2. She decrypts it using her private key,        the random session key K_(—)4, and verifies the signature. She        searches for the matching N among her currently active        submissions. If she doesn't find it, an error has occurred, and        someone will need to follow up, but the protocol ends. If she        does find it, however, she notes that Bob has answered end user        request 120 (so he can be paid for it). Carol then looks up        Alice's challenge (R_(—)0), address, and time stamp, and forms:        -   K_(—)5=a random session key.        -   X_(—)8=PKE_{PK_A}(K_(—)5) encrypted under Alice's public            key.        -   X_(—)9=SIGN_{SK_C}(ID_A,R_(—)0,T,S,G).        -   M_(—)3=X_(—)8,E_{K_(—)5}(ID_A,R_(—)0,T,S,G),X_(—)9.    -   e. Alice receives M_(—)3, and verifies the signature. She now        has an authenticated expert answer 130, along with a time stamp        to show when she submitted it.

By using a trusted third party and an anonymous mix 180, the identity ofthe end user and the expert is preserved. Although we have describedonly one possible method for maintaining anonymity, there are otherequivalents. For example, if the embodiment included telephonemessaging, the identity of the end user and expert could be maintainedusing conventional voice modification techniques. If end user request120 or expert answer 130 were in a paper form, the form could be scannedusing optical character recognition and translated into digital form,discarding any information that could be found in the original document.

Anonymity may also serve to prevent an end user and expert fromcontacting each other outside the system in order to ensure that paymentis received for bringing the two parties together. In this embodiment,central controller 200 forces anonymity by blinding one or both parties.The expert, for example, may not see the name of the end user untilexpert answer 130 has been transmitted.

Selection Methods Embodiment

In one embodiment of the present invention, a protocol is described inwhich end users select the experts to which end user request 120 istransmitted. Additionally, bidding and negotiating protocols aredescribed which allow end users to select the most appropriate expert tocreate expert answer 130, once responses are received from expertswilling to provide expert answer 130.

After the list of qualified experts has been generated by centralcontroller 200 at step 770, the end user may directly choose one or moreexperts to produce expert answer 130. The end user might connect to theweb page of central controller 200, selecting experts from a list ofqualified experts. Likewise, the expert can choose which end userrequests 120 to provide an expert answer 130.

In one method of the present invention, central controller 200 uses enduser profile 150 to select the experts. End user profile 150 representsrules for unattendant handling of transactions and is stored in end userdatabase 260. For example, the end user might want to select the firstexpert to reply, the three least expensive experts, the most expensiveexpert, or the expert with the highest expert qualifications 140 fromexpert qualifications database 285. The end user could also require aminimum number of experts, or that he wants everyone who accepts enduser request 120 within twenty minutes. These rules are stored in enduser profile 150, allowing central controller 200 to automate more ofthe selection process.

In order to select from among many experts responding to end userrequest 120, bidding protocols can be used in which the expert has anexpert profile 155 that is used to decide which end user requests 120will be accepted or rejected. Expert profile 155 includes automatic bidamounts, minimum completion times, or automatic acceptances for highpriced end user requests 120. For example, when end user request 120 issent to the expert, central controller 200 automatically submits a bidor rejection based on expert profile 155.

End user profile 150 may contain bidding rules as well, such asexcluding bids above or below a predetermined amount. The end user canalso specify that he only wants experts willing to negotiate the pricefor responses, or that the experts must engage in an active biddingsession in order to get his business.

Another method for end users and experts to select each other is anegotiation protocol. This negotiation can occur in any of thepreviously described embodiments and can involve negotiating for time,price, or any other factors important to the expert or end user. FIGS.30, 31 and 32 describe alternative embodiments of the negotiatingprotocols of the present invention.

FIG. 30 shows a bidding embodiment where the end user creates end userrequest 120 that includes a requirement that the experts bid on theresponse. The end user then decides which expert to use based on theexpert's bids. A higher bid could mean that the expert is more qualifiedto respond or that the expert will provide a higher quality response. Atstep 3000, the end user creates end user request 120. At step 3010 enduser request 120 and bid request 160 are transmitted to the appropriateexperts using those methods described in earlier embodiments. In theasynchronous communications embodiment, for example, the end usertransmits end user request 120 at step 650.

Each expert then has an opportunity to bid on or reject the end user'send user request 120 at step 3020. If the expert rejects end userrequest 120, notification is sent to central controller 200 at step3030. If the expert chooses to bid on end user request 120, the bidoffer 165 is sent to central controller 200 to be combined with bidoffers 165 from other experts at step 3040. Central controller 200 thensends bid offers 165 to the end user at step 3050. At step 3060, the enduser chooses from among bid offers 165 and selects an expert to answerend user request 120. The end user's choice is then transmitted tocentral controller 200 and the expert is notified of acceptance at step3070. Alternatively, the end user instructs central controller 200 toautomatically accept the lowest bid offer 165, highest bid offer 165, orany bid offer 165 that satisfies attached criteria 117 or end userprofile 150. The end user, therefore, does not need to be directlyinvolved in the bidding at all.

In the above procedure, the expert is directly involved in the biddingprocess. In an alternative embodiment the expert's profile 155 is storedin expert database 255. Based on expert profile 155, central controller200 automatically directs the bidding process. For example, a lawyermight establish expert profile 155 which automatically bids two hundreddollars for any end user request 120 regarding wills, except for thoserequiring completion in two hours or less.

FIG. 31 shows an auctioning embodiment where the end users create enduser requests 120 and submit them to central controller 200 as shown atsteps 3100 and 3110. End user requests 120 are sent to a pool ofqualified experts who simultaneously submit bid offers 165 on end userrequest 120 at step 3120. There may be a number of auction rounds (knownas a repeated auction) in which experts have a chance to submit new bidoffers 165. This contrasts with the one-shot auction described in FIG.30, where there is only one round of bidding. Each expert sees his bidoffer 165 as well as the other experts' bid offers 165. In this way, enduser request 120 is auctioned off to the lowest bidder. Once the lowestbid offer 165 is determined at step 3130, the end user is notified ofthe bid offer 165 at step 3140.

FIG. 32 shows a bidding embodiment where the end user is bidding for anexpert's time. If an end user needed a level 6 patent lawyer forexample, he may be faced with a supply and demand imbalance if there areonly four or five in the whole country. Since these lawyers may only beable to reply to one end user request 120 a day, the end users may haveto bid for the experts' attention. When the expert logs into the system,letters of interest from users are transmitted to expert interface 400.These letters of interest are communications which describe the specificexpert that the end user wants, as well as a bid for his services. Theexpert transmits a message to central controller 200 to find the highestend user bid offer 165 and retrieves the end user's end user request120.

At step 3200, the end user submits a letter of interest to centralcontroller 200 that includes criteria 117 and starting bid offer 165. Atstep 3210 central controller 200 searches to find matching experts inexpert qualifications database 285 and submits a message to each expertwho qualifies at step 3220. The expert automatically receives a list ofend users and their letters of interest from central controller 200 atstep 3230. At step 3240, the expert can either choose to respond to theletter of interest directly at step 3250 (based on initial bid offer165) or send central controller 200 a bid request 160 at step 3260.

The end user bid offers 165 are transmitted back to the experts viacentral controller 200 at step 3270. The process continues at step 3240with the expert choosing to either accept end user bid offer 165 or askfor new end user bid offers 165. In this way, the expert maximizes hisearnings while the end user has access to highly recruited experts.

Another form of negotiation is shown in FIG. 33. Here, the end usersnegotiate the price of a particular end user request 120. The end usersubmits end user request 120 at step 3300. Central controller 200processes end user request 120 and transmits it to an expert at step3310. The expert reviews end user request 120 at step 3320 and decideswhether to accept end user request 120, or ask for a higher price. Ifthe expert accepts end user request 120, the end user is notified atstep 3330. If the expert wants a higher price, the end user is notifiedat step 3340 of the price the expert expects. The expert can alsosuggest a way to reduce the cost by eliminating part of end user request120. For example, end user request 120 may be significantly lesscomplicated if a portion of it is changed or eliminated.

At step 3350, the end user can either decide to increase the amount ofbid offer 165, or modify end user request 120 to see if he can reducethe cost. In either case, the end user resubmits end user request 120 at3310. This iterative negotiation process continues until the end usereither accepts the expert's terms or decides to retract end user request120.

Although the bidding systems described above are based on price,alternative systems can be based on response time, quality of expertanswer 130, whether the expert is willing to contact the end userdirectly, how many follow up end user requests 120 would be accepted,etc. The end user specifies which type of bidding is desired and centralcontroller 200 makes the appropriate adjustments to bid request 160.

The above auction protocols are meant to be illustrative, and do notrepresent all of the possible protocols. If the end user is seekingmultiple expert answers 130 to a given end user request 120, forexample, there are auction protocols to handle the additionalcomplexity. A uniform auction, for example, sells each opportunity forexpert answer 130 at the second-highest bid. Other formats such as“Dutch” auctions are equally applicable.

The bidding process can be used with any of the previously describedembodiments, using either an asynchronous or synchronous communicationsembodiment.

Once the end user and expert have agreed on the price, the process ofbilling authorization and expert answer 130 transmission follows theprocess described in the previous embodiments of the present inventionsuch as those described in FIG. 9. If the end user has selected multipleexperts to receive his end user request 120, it will be transmitted toall the selected experts.

Customer Satisfaction Embodiment

Although the previous embodiments have described the delivery of expertanswer 130 as the end of the process, the present invention allows forfollow-up procedures to ensure that the end user is satisfied with thequality of expert answer 130. Such procedures include review of end usercomplaints by higher-level experts, as well as periodic testing ofexperts by central controller 200 to verify competence. FIGS. 34 and 35describe these procedures in more detail.

FIG. 34 describes a peer review process in which a sampling of expertanswers 130 are reviewed for compliance with quality standards. In thisrespect it is similar to a factory which tests a sample of product asthe come off the assembly line, adjusting machines on the line ifquality drops. At step 3400, central controller 200 establishes aschedule for expert answer 130 review. This schedule might indicate thatevery seventh expert answer 130 received is reviewed, or a randomschedule could be generated so that the expert does not know in advancewhich expert answer 130 will be reviewed. The schedule applies to everyexpert answer 130 received from a given expert, ensuring that no expertgoes unreviewed.

At step 3410, the expert transmits expert answer 130 to centralcontroller 200 which determines whether or not expert answer 130 wasscheduled for review. Central controller 200 searches expert database255 at step 3420, noting the number of expert answers 130 alreadysubmitted by that expert. If it was not scheduled for review, expertanswer 130 is simply transmitted to the end user at step 3430, and thereview process is not initiated. If it is scheduled for review, a copyof expert answer 130 is routed to a randomly selected reviewing expertof comparable expert qualifications 140 at step 3440, while the originalexpert answer 130 is transmitted to the end user so that the reviewprocess does not extend the completion time of end user request 120.

The reviewing expert decides whether or not expert answer 130 providedis acceptable at step 3450, with a positive evaluation prompting centralcontroller 200 to update expert database 255 to indicate satisfactorycompletion of one quality check at step 3460. If expert answer 130 isfound unsatisfactory at step 3460, central controller 200 updates expertdatabase 255 to indicate the negative results of the quality check atstep 3470. In addition, a notice is transmitted to the expert at step3480 reprimanding him for poor quality. A given number of reprimands mayresult in the expulsion or temporary suspension of the expert, or in alowering of his expert qualification 140 level.

Referring now to FIG. 35, there is described a procedure for handlingend user complaints about the quality of responses received. At step3500, expert answer 130 is transmitted to the end user. At step 3510,the end user discovers that expert answer 130 is unsatisfactory, sendingback expert answer 130 to central controller 200 at step 3520. An expertanswer 130 may be unacceptable because it is not complete, is factuallyincorrect, etc. Central controller 200 then randomly selects an expertat step 3530 whose expert qualifications 140 are equal to or higher thanthe expert who originally produced expert answer 130. The chosenevaluating expert then evaluates expert answer 130 in relation to enduser request 120 at step 3540, judging whether or not expert answer 130is acceptable. If it is judged acceptable, the evaluating experttransmits a written opinion regarding the evaluation to centralcontroller 200 at step 3550, whereupon the opinion is then transmittedto the end user at step 3560, along with a denial of his appeal. Toprevent further escalation if the end user is still unsatisfied, centralcontroller 200 may require the end user at time of registration to agreeto accept the results of this arbitration process.

If expert answer 130 is judged unacceptable at step 3540, centralcontroller 200 refunds the price of expert answer 130 to the end user atstep 3570, or submits the original end user request 120 to anotherqualified expert. At step 3580, payment processor 230 sends a message tothe expert indicating that the money received for that expert answer 130will be deducted from any future payments. Included with this message isa copy of the opinion letter written by the evaluating expert.

Those skilled in the art will recognize that the method and apparatus ofthe present invention has many applications, and that the presentinvention is not limited to the representative examples disclosedherein. Moreover, the scope of the present invention coversconventionally known variations and modifications to the systemcomponents described herein, as would be known by those skilled in theart.

1-12. (canceled)
 13. A method of providing payment to an expert for aresponse to an end user request, comprising: by a controller, storing ina database data relating to a plurality of experts, said data including,for each expert, a corresponding name, address, and qualification;receiving at the controller an end user request from an end user;posting, by the controller, at least a portion of the end user requeston a web page; receiving, by the controller, a response to the end userrequest from a first expert identified in the database; and compensatingthe first expert for the response.
 14. The method of claim 13, furthercomprising receiving, by the controller, a ranking of the response. 15.The method of claim 13, further comprising transmitting, by thecontroller, the response received from the first expert to a secondexpert for review.
 16. The method of claim 13, further comprisingdecrypting the response received from the first expert.
 17. The methodof claim 13, further comprising decrypting the end user request.
 18. Themethod of claim 13, further comprising, by the controller, archiving theresponse received from the first expert.
 19. The method of claim 13,further comprising, by the controller, archiving the end user request.20. The method of claim 13, further comprising receiving payment fromthe end user. 21-32. (canceled)
 33. An apparatus for providing paymentto an expert who provides a response to an end user request, comprisinga controller having a database storing data relating to a plurality ofexperts, said data including, for each expert, a corresponding name,address, and qualification, the controller configured to receive an enduser request from an end user, post at least a portion of the end userrequest on a web page, receive a response to the end user request from afirst expert identified in the database; and compensate the first expertfor the response.
 34. The apparatus of claim 33, wherein the controlleris further configured to receive a ranking of the response.
 35. Theapparatus of claim 33, wherein the controller is further configured totransmit the response received from the first expert to a second expertfor review.
 36. The apparatus of claim 33, wherein the controller isfurther configured to decrypt the response received from the firstexpert.
 37. The apparatus of claim 33, wherein the controller is furtherconfigured to decrypt the end user request.
 38. The apparatus of claim33, wherein the controller is further configured to archive the responsereceived from the first expert.
 39. The apparatus of claim 33, whereinthe controller is further configured to archive the end user request.40. The apparatus of claim 33, wherein the controller is furtherconfigured to receive payment from the end user.